A Forgotten Search
by swim.t0.th3.s3a
Summary: "She took my breath away, Sam. She's a dead ringing for Rena. Is it working? Being around Samantha, being in her world? She make you feel alive?" What happens when Samantha Markley takes Elena's place. What changes? What stays the same? Read to find out!
1. Pilot

**This story literally came to me in a dream. I needed to get it out of my head. **

**I don't own anything but Rena Petrova and Samantha Markley.**

* * *

**Chapter One: Pilot**

_Dear Diary,_

_I guess I should introduce myself. Elena said this helps with the loss, though I don't see how. You see, Diary. I've lost my only family that I've known, my loving dad. He died in the same car accident as Elena's parents. Elena and I survived, though I don't know how. I was on my way home from the park and Elena was on her way home from the party that I decided on against going to. I'm not sure who lost control of the car first, and I remember is both cars tumbling over the bridge and falling into the deep water. My father died on impact. I passed out not remembering what happened, same with Elena. But next thing I know, Diary, I'm waking up in the hospital next to Elena's bed. _  
_Since I don't have any other family that's willing to take me in, I'm going with who my dad put in his will, Miranda and Greyson Gilbert. I guess he wasn't expecting them to die the same night he did. Elena's aunt Jenna moved in with her and her little brother, Jeremy, so Jenna was my next best bet. I can't say I was close with Jenna, but she's someone to trust. I will always be thankful for her taking us in when she didn't need to. She has a lot on her plate with working and college, the last thing she needed was having to take care of a couple teenagers. But she took us in anyways._  
_Diary, I said in the beginning I was going to introduce myself, and I never did. My name is Samantha Rena Markley. My best friends are Caroline, Matt, Tyler, Bonnie, and of course, Elena. I have many other friends but trust me, you'll be hearing about these people more often or not. I am 17 years old, and I am in my Junior Year in high school. Speaking of which, today's the first day. I have to go meet Elena downstairs to get to school. Bonnie drives us most of the time, due to the fact that it's easier to carpool. _  
_Well, Diary, today's the today. I wish my dad was here to watch me go off on my first day of Junior year._

"Sam, you up?" Elena called from the other side of the door.

"Yeah, I'm good!" I shouted closing my journal and laying in on my bed. I sighed at the unfamiliar room. I just got everything finalized about a mouth ago, 3 months after my father's death. This room was still uncomfortable to me. I needed to personalize it. The plain white walls and the wooden floors aren't doing much for me. I shook my head and ran my fingers through my brown hair. It's now or never, I guess.

I opened my white door and stepped into the hallway. I heard everyone talking in the kitchen and I quickly followed their voices, watching my black boot cladded feet jump off the end of the stairs.

"It's your first day of school and I'm completely unprepared." Jenna shook her head as she grabbed her purse. She looked through it quickly before looking up at the three of us. "Money for lunch?" She asked.

"No need." Elena shook her head.

"Don't worry about me, Jenna." I smiled softly at her.

Jeremy was the only one who hesitated before taking some money and stuffing it in his pockets.

"Anything else? A number two pencil?" Jenna sighed. "What am I missing?"

"Don't you have that big presentation today?" Elena asked her aunt. I watched Jenna's expressions go from confused to anxious.

"I have a meeting with my thesis adviser..." She looked down at her watch. "Now. Crap!" She shook her light brown hair out of the pony tail so that it was falling around her loosely.

"Go." I laughed at the older woman.

"Yeah, we'll be fine." Elena agreed.

Jenna watched us for a moment before nodding. She grabbed the stuff that she needed and shouted a quick 'bye' before heading out the door. I sighed when she was gone and took a sip out of Elena's coffee cup. She rolled her eyes at me but didn't stop me.

"You okay?" Elena asked Jeremy. He took it the hardest out of all of us. Elena and I just lost some of our personality, Jeremy turned to drugs and pills.

"Don't start." Jeremy snapped before leaving the kitchen with his coffee cup in his hands.

"What about you?" Elena asked looking at me, not even bothered by Jeremy. He's been like this all summer.

"Well, school's never been a big thing for me, but I'll be fine." I shrugged handing her back her coffee. She nodded that she understood. "It'd be hard, but we got each other. We'll get through it like we always do."

"Yeah, true." Elena smiled gently at me before a beep outside pulled us away from our thoughts. "That must be Bonnie." She commented dumping the rest of her coffee in the sink.

I nodded and grabbed my black bag that was on the couch waiting for me, mocking me. My dad gave me this bag when I was 14 and it hasn't failed me yet. I slipped on my leather jacket that matched with my black boots before following Elena outside to Bonnie's car.

* * *

"My grams goes on to tell me that I'm psychic." Bonnie explained to me. I would include Elena in that, but she was too busy spacing out in the back seat.

"It could be true, Bon." I shrugged. Anything was possible in the world.

"Maybe." She sighed. "Our ancestors are from Salem, apparently. She will not stop talking about it, and I think, '_put this woman in a home!_' But then I started thinking, I predicted Obama, and I predicted Heath Ledger, and I still think Florida is going to separate and process into little resort islands." Bonnie explained. She looked in the back to see that Elena wasn't paying attention to anything that we were saying. "Elena, back to the car." Bonnie called.

"I did it again, right? Sorry Bonnie, Sam." Elena sighed frowning at the both of us.

I shrugged. "It's no biggie. Bonnie was just telling me that she's psychic now." I smiled over to the dark skinned teen driving. She rolled her eyes but smiled back.

"Right." Elena nodded. "Okay, predict anything. About the both of us." She pointed to me and her.

Bonnie started thinking. "I see-" She started but suddenly something black pops out of nowhere and hits the windshield. Bonnie slams her foot down on the brakes and pulls over on the side of the road so people could get past us. I froze for a second before I realized where we were. I wasn't in some pond, drowning. I was on the road with my friends, safe.

"What was that?" I asked breathless.

"Oh my God, you guys alright?" Bonnie asked concerned for the both of us.

"I'm okay." I sighed quietly.

"I'm fine." Elena said from the back.

"It was a bird or something. It came out of nowhere." Bonnie tried explaining to the both of us.

"It's fine, Bonnie." I shook my head at the brunette.

"We can't be terrified of cars indefinitely." Elena stated with a shrug.

Bonnie turned to look at the both of us. "I predict that this year will be awesome. And I predict that eventually the sad and dark times will be over and you _both_ will be beyond happy." Bonnie predicted with a smile.

"Amen." I laughed nodding my head along with Bonnie.

* * *

Elena, Bonnie, and I were walking down the hallway. Elena was listening to me and Bonnie complain about the lack of cute guys. It was hard living in a small town and trying to find someone worth your time. "Lack of male restate." I rolled my brown eyes at Bonnie.

"The male population is bad this year." Bonnie agreed nodding.

I pointed to this girl Kelly Beach. "Look." I groaned.

"Look at that shower curtain Kelly Beach. She looks like a hot- can I still say, 'tranny-mess'?" Bonnie asked looking over at Elena and I.

"No. I think that's pretty much overused." I shook my head at the silly brunette. I reached my locker that was close enough to Bonnie's and opened it to keep the things that I didn't need in my locker.

"Find a man for you both-" Bonnie started.

"Find a man for yourself. And come up with a new catch-phrase." I pointed out shutting my locker closed.

"It's a busy year." Bonnie sighed.

"He hates me." Elena spoke up. I looked up from Bonnie to see Matt Donovan, Elena's ex boyfriend standing on the other side of the hallway.

I sighed. "That is not hate."

"That is: '_You dumped me, but I'm too cool to show it, but secretly, I'm listening to the hits of Air Supply_.'" Bonnie finished for me with a frown. I sighed and patted Elena's shoulder. She didn't want to hurt Matt. It was hard to look at those pretty blue eyes and break up with him.

I got pulled away from Elena and into a strong grip. I gasped and tried pulling away but they just held me closer. They finally pulled away and looked at me sadly; Caroline Forbes. One of the other people in our little friendship group.

"Elena? Sammy? My God, how are you?" She asked and then pulled Elena into a hug this time. I stepped away from the preppy blonde and more over to Bonnie. I wanted to try and avoid getting hugged from her again. She won't let go this time. "It's so good to see you both." She said pulling away from Elena.

She stepped back and looked at Bonnie. "How are they? Are they okay?" Caroline asked like we weren't right in front of her.

"Caroline, we're right here." I said waving my hand in front of her face.

"And we're fine, thanks." Elena continued for me.

"Really?" Caroline asked unsure if she should believe us.

"Yes, we are much better." Elena spoke for the both of us but I nodded to ensure Caroline.

Apparently, it wasn't enough for the blonde. Because she pulled us into another hug, this time together. "Poor things." She whispered into our ears.

"Alright." I patted Caroline's back like she was the one that needed comfort.

"Alright, Caroline." Elena pulled back from the dangerous blonde and Caroline finally let us go out of her grip.

"See you later?" Caroline asked with her dazzling smile.

"Okay, bye!" Elena waved back to Caroline and the blonde took off down the hallway. I sighed when she was finally out of our sight. Don't get me wrong, I love Caroline, but she was too much sometimes.

"No comment." I shook my head at the two brunettes. They both nodded.

"I will not say anything." Elena shook her head before we turned and started walking down the hallway.

We just started passing by the main office when I pulled Bonnie back to look at the mysterious guy. "Wait a minute." I said looking at the leather jacket.

"Who is this?" Bonnie asked for me. She cocked a perfectly shaped eyebrow at the both of us and we shrugged.

"All I see is the back." Elena said looking at us weirdly.

"It's a hot back." I laughed over at Elena. She rolled her eyes at me.

"I sense Seattle, and plays guitar." Bonnie nodded with a smirk.

"You're really going to run this whole psychic thing into the ground, huh?" Elena asked with a laugh.

"Pretty much." Bonnie agreed with a shrug.

Elena turned to look at someone who called her brother's name. I watched as he went into the bathroom. Elena sighed at me before raising an eyebrow. We both turned to Bonnie. "We'll be right back." Elena said before leading me into the guy's bathroom.

We get into the bathroom just when Jeremy was putting eye drops into his eyes.

"Whoa! Pants down, chick!" Some random Sophomore yelled to us.

"Oh, be quiet. We've seen a dick before." I snapped to the kid making him pull up his pants and run out of the bathroom. Boys. I rolled my eyes.

"Great!" Elena said to her little brother. "First day of school and you're stoned." She sighed angrily, shaking her head.

"No, I'm not." Jeremy tried denying it.

"Listen, kiddo. We've been around longer, we know the signs." I shrugged at the 15 year old boy. He rolled his eyes at my nickname for him. I've called him kiddo for the longest time. He's always hated it. That's why I do it.

"Where is it?" Elena questioned starting to search her little brother. "Is it on you?"

"Stop!" He pushed out of her reach. "Just chill yourself, okay?"

"Chill yourself?" I snorted. "What is that? Stoner talk? Dude, you're, like, so cool." I said sarcastically.

"Stop!" Jeremy shouted again when Elena tried reaching for him. "I don't have anything on me. Are you crazy?"

"You have no seen me crazy, Jeremy!" Elena stated. "I gave you a _summer pass, _but I'm sick of seeing you destroy yourself." Elena complained. "No, you know what? Go ahead. Keep it up. But just know that I'll be here to kill your buzz every time I see you stoned, got it?" She questioned.

Another teenage boy stepped out of one of the stales looking at me and Elena like we were weird. I waved him off and he ran out of the bathroom.

"I don't need this." Jeremy shook his head at the both of us before running out of the bathroom.

"Jeremy." I sighed going after him. I saw him turn the corner before a body interrupted my line of sight. Elena came running out of the boys bathroom, bumping into me, which in return made me bump into the stranger in front of myself. I carefully caught myself on him, trying not to knock him over in the process.

"Sorry, Sam." Elena helped me stand up straight. I nodded my head at her before turning to the new guy in front of me. Wow, green eyes.

"I'm sorry." He said. "Is this the men's bathroom?" He questioned with a cock of his head.

I laughed awkwardly. "Yeah. It's a long story that you probably don't want to hear." I shrugged. I saw Bonnie wave Elena over to her quickly, trying not to get noticed by me, but I noticed. Elena followed after the dark skinned teen before smiling back at me. I rolled my eyes at my friends. They're dead meat.

"I should probably be getting to class." I said pointing to my friends at the end of the hallway. The green eyed teen nodded before trying to step around me, but I went the same way he did. I laughed but tried again, resulting in the same situation. I grabbed his arms before switching our positions, so I was were he was and he was were I was.

I patted his arm awkwardly before turning around and following after my friends down the hall and into my history class. When I noticed that the mystery guy wasn't watching me, I slapped my forehead. "Stupid." I muttered to myself before going into the classroom and taking my seat next to Elena.

* * *

"Our state of Virginia joined the Confederacy in 1861, this created an enormous tension within the state..." Tanner, the history teacher, dragged on. I sighed and leaned back into my chair before taking my phone out and texting Bonnie.

_'I am so bored. Tanner's voice is putting me to sleep. Zzzzz... -S'_ I texted Bonnie. I looked up when I felt eyes on me to see the new guy staring at me from his seat. I smiled at him awkwardly- because everything I do is awkward.

"People in Virginia's northwest region had different ideals than those from the traditional deep south." Tanner explained further breaking me out of my thoughts.

I looked over at Elena to see her doodling on her paper, not realizing Matt was staring at her with lost puppy-dog eyes.

"Virginia was divided in 1863, with the northeastern region to join the Union." Tanner stated.

I looked up at the new student again and made eye contact. I looked away and smirked down at my desk. I turned in my desk to look at Bonnie and she winked at me. I flipped her off under my desk and she rolled her eyes. I felt my phone buzz in my hand and I looked down at the text to see that it was from Bonnie.

'_Cutie's looking at you- ooo la la. -B'_

I smirked down at the text message before texting her back.

'_Groowl. ;) -S_'

I heard her snort at my text message. I smirked at my friend before shutting off my phone and paying attention to Tanner's monotone voice.

* * *

"I swear, if I have to go through one more year of Tanner's voice, I'll kill myself." I complained to Elena as we made our way to the cemetery. It was our monthly visit that we decided to do together. We would come here and do whatever. It was a good time to actually get things out of your mind. Now that I was trying to write things down more, I could use this time to write to dad.

"You always say that." Elena laughed at me about Tanner.

"It'll happen." I sighed sadly. She pushed my shoulder before making her way to her parents grave. I headed in a different direction and landed next to my dad's grave.

_Terry Markley_  
_Loving Father and Friend_  
_Will Be Missed For Eternity_

I sighed at my dad's headstone before getting my journal out and a pen.

_Dear Diary,_

_It's the end of the school day, and I surprisingly didn't yell or scream at anyone. Elena told me on the way to the cemetery that she must have said, 'I am well, thank you.' about 37 times. I couldn't agree more. It's hard without you here, dad. It's hard to actually go through the day and pretend that losing the only thing I had in my life, that was good, was getting easier to deal with. It wasn't. It's getting real hard not being able to hear you singing in the morning anymore, dad. I wish you were here._

A caw from a crow made me look up from my journal. It was between the tombstone of Elena's parents and my dad. I shared the same look as Elena before getting up and shooing the bird away.

"That's not creepy or anything." Elena said getting up from the ground. I shrugged my shoulders, it wasn't that bad. I looked down at the ground just in time to see fog rolling around us.

"Fog?" I asked confused.

"Let's get out of here." Elena suggested. I looked up to see how nervous she was being out here. I nodded my head and picked up my bag. I nodded my head to follow me and we headed out of the cemetery.

I looked back at the spot where we just left to see a black figure standing, looking at us. I heard Elena's quick intake of air and knew that she saw him too. I turned back around just in time to trip on a tree branch on the ground. I landed on the ground with an 'unf' and a groan.

"Sam, are you okay?" Elena looked down at me. I waved her off and got back up on my two feet. "Alright, well, I think I've had enough excitement to last a while. I'll meet you back at the house, okay?" She questioned. I nodded my head and she turned away, passing by the new student who was making his way over to me. She looked back at me and gave me a thumbs up.

"Are you okay?" The green eyed boy asked me concerned.

"Uh, I'm fine." I shrugged. "Were you just back there?" I pointed to the place where me and Elena came from.

"No, I saw you fall. I thought I'd help you." The teen explained.

I nodded my head. "Well, thank you. What are you doing in a cemetery?" I questioned curious on the fact.

"I was visiting. I have family here." He explained with a shrug.

"Same." I nodded understanding. "I'm Samantha, but people call me Sam or Sammy." I smiled brightly at the male in front of me.

"I'm Stefan." He smiled back holding out his hand for me to shake. I gave it a light shake, feeling a spark go up through my arm. I tried not to act like I felt anything. Hopefully it worked.

"I know, we have History together." I shrugged thinking back to this morning.

"And English, and French." Stefan pointed out.

"Right." I nodded agreeing.

Stefan lifted his hand and pulled out a small twig that was stuck in my hair. I laughed and pulled out a leaf that I found. "Wow, how nice." I said sarcastically. "Thank you." I looked down at his hand to see a huge ring on his finger. "Nice ring." I said in appreciation.

"Yeah, it's a family ring. I'm stuck with it. It's weird, huh?" He asked with a laugh.

I shook my head. "No, it's unique looking. I mean, I have rings, but that's a _ring_. I like it." I shrugged explaining.

"Did you hurt yourself?" Stefan asked nervously. I raised an eyebrow at him.

"Um..." I looked down at my knee to see a little damp spot on my black jeans. "Shit." I shook my head at my clumsiness.

"You should probably go and take care of that." Stefan said uneasy. I looked up at him to see that he was uneased about the thought of blood.

"Yeah. I should be getting home anyways." I shrugged my backpack higher up on my shoulder. "I'll see you around, Stefan." I rushed out of the cemetery and started heading home. Elena was right, I've had enough strange for today.

* * *

"Elena," I called up the stairs. "We're going to be late, if you don't move your butt." I moved away from the stairs.

"Where you off to?" Jenna asked coming out of the kitchen. I turned to the sound of her voice.

"Elena and I are going to the Grill to meet up with Bonnie and Caroline." I stated with a smile.

"Have fun." Jenna said as Elena came down the stairs. "Wait, I got this. Don't stay out too late, it's a school night." Jenna smirked triumphantly.

I laughed shaking my head at Jenna as Elena nodded and told her that she did good. I opened the door to leave but was stopped when I looked up in familiar green eyes.

"We got to stop meeting like this." I pointed between the two of us.

Stefan smiled down at me. "Sorry, I was about to knock." He stated with a shrug. "I wanted to apologize about earlier. I didn't mean to get all weird with your leg." He tried apologizing but I waved him off.

"Not to worry. I get it, blood makes you uneasy." I shrugged.

"Something like that." He commented. "How is your leg?"

"It was just a scratch, nothing I can't handle." I shrugged. "How do you know where I live?" I asked confused. I was pretty sure that he didn't know I lived with Elena.

"It's a small town." He pointed out. "I asked the first person I saw." He explained with a joking manner.

I nodded my head. "Touche." I laughed slightly.

"I thought you might want this back." Stefan reached into his pocket and pulled out my small leather bound journal. I smiled up at the green eyed boy before taking the book from his hands.

"I must have left it." I shook my head at myself. "Thank you, so much. I'd be going crazy later on when I tried to find it." I stated with a laugh.

"Don't worry about it." Stefan said. "I didn't read it." He commented shaking his head.

"Why? Must people would love to know what goes on through Samantha Markley's mysterious mind." I said sarcastically.

"I wouldn't like people to read mine." Stefan shrugged.

I pushed his shoulder jokingly. "You do not have a journal." I laughed slightly.

"I do." Stefan admits.

"No way." I laughed slightly.

He nodded. "Yeah, if I didn't write, I would forget. Memories are too important."

I nodded my head. "They are."

"Sam, ready?" Elena asked coming into the conversation. I nodded my head before turning back to Stefan.

"You don't have to stay out there." I shook my head before going into the house and putting my journal onto the book shelf. Not many people look there, it was a good hiding spot.

"I'm fine here." Stefan called into the house. I ran back over and met up with Elena and Stefan before grabbing my bag and throwing it over my shoulder.

"Sorry," Stefan said. "Were you going somewhere?"

"Yeah, we are meeting a couple friends." I said softly.

"You should come with us." Elena smiled at the both of us.

"Do you wanna come?" I asked brightly at the male. Stefan smiled at the both of us before nodding.

* * *

"Okay, so the brunette is Bonnie and the blonde is Caroline." I pointed to the two teenagers as we got into the Grill. Stefan nodded that he understood. "And the male is Matt, he's Elena's ex. It's a little awkward right now because they just broke up about a month or so ago." I sighed quietly.

"Got it." Stefan nodded at me.

Matt come up to Stefan, Elena, and I. I saw Elena get really awkward. I gave Stefan a, '_told you so_' look and he nodded.

"Hi. I'm Matt. Nice to meet you." Matt took out his hand for Stefan to shake.

Stefan grabbed Matt's hand before intruding himself. "Hi. I'm Stefan."

Matt lets go of Stefan's hand before looking at Elena. I pushed Stefan a little to the left to get around the awkward ex's. He understood what I was doing before following my lead. I nodded my head telling him to follow me. I brought him over to our usual table that we sat at and smiled at the two girls. They smiled brightly at Stefan before smirking at me. I rolled my eyes but sat down at the table anyways.

"So, were born here in Mystic Falls?" Caroline started asking questions around the time that we all got settled into the booth.

"Yeah, and then moved when I was young." Stefan nodded his head.

"Parents?" Bonnie asked this time around.

Stefan's expression turned from friendly to sad. "My parents passed away." Stefan stated with a sad look.

I patted his shoulder softly. "I'm sorry, Stefan. I know how much it hurts to lose a parent. I just recently lost mine."

Stefan nodded at me in understanding before Elena sat down on the other side of me. I knew she heard the conversation because she was right there listening. "Do you have siblings?" Elena asked curious.

"None that I talk to." Stefan shrugged.

"That's sad." I pouted at the male. He shrugged.

"I live with my uncle." He stated.

"So, Stefan, if you are new, you don't know about the party tomorrow." Caroline smirked over at me. I laughed and shook my head. The last party that I went to, I ended up drunk and almost naked somewhere outside. It took me a good 10 minutes trying to find my way out of the woods.

"It's a back to school thing." I finished explaining.

"Are you going?" Stefan looked down at me. I opened my mouth to answer but Bonnie beat me to it.

"Of course, she is going." Bonnie smiled in my direction. I shrugged my shoulders at Stefan.

"I guess, I'm going." I laughed.

* * *

Let me tell you how time dragged on when you were looking forward to something after school. I can not sit still. I wanted to go to this party tonight and Tanner's voice wasn't helping my situation.

"The Battle of Willow Creek was ended in here, in our Mystic Falls. How many causalities resulted in this battle?" Tanned looked around at the bored class before setting eyes on the dark skinned brunette. "Miss. Bennett?"

Bonnie hummed. "A lot?" She guessed with wide green eyes. "I'm not sure. Like a whole lot."

"Cute becomes dumb in an instant, Miss. Bennett." Tanner snapped at the girl. Bonnie looked back down at her notepad. "Mr. Donovan? Would you like this opportunity to overcome your embedded jock stereotype?"

Matt shook his head. "It's okay, Mr. Tanner. I'm okay with that." Matt jokes making the whole class burst into little giggles.

"Miss. Gilbert?" Tanner looked at the young girl next to me. She shook her head quietly. Tanner sighed before turning to me. "Miss. Markley?" He raised an eyebrow. I sighed and leaned against my chair. "Surely you can enlighten us about one of the most significant historical events?"

"Well, when you put it like that." I mutter under my breath before looking up at Tanner. "I'm sorry. I don't know." I shrugged.

"I was willing to be lenient on you and Miss. Gilbert last year for obvious reasons, Samantha. But the personal excuses ended with summer break." Tanner said to both me and Elena. I looked from Tanner's brown eyes to the doodle-filled notebook.

"There were 346 causalities. Unless you're counting local citizens." Stefan's voice rang out through the room. I glanced up from underneath of my side bangs to see Stefan looking up at Tanner from his chair.

"That's correct, Mr...?" Tanner asked the silent question.

"Salvatore." Stefan answered.

"Salvatore. Have any relations with the original settlers in Mystic Falls?" Tanner asked interested.

Stefan shrugged nonchalantly. "Distant." He answered Tanner.

"Very well, then." Tanner nodded. "Except," I knew it was coming. "Of course, there were no civilian casualties in this battle." Tanner disagreed.

"Actually, there were 27 civilian casualties, sir." Stefan corrected the tall teacher. "Confederate soldiers, they fired on the church, believing it to be housing weapons. They were wrong. It was a night of great loss. The founder's archives are, uh, stored in civil hall if you want to brush up on your facts, Mr. Tanner." Stefan said with a ghost of a smile. I laughed in my seat and patted Stefan's shoulder when Tanner turned back to the board. Stefan shared my smile before turning back to Tanner.

* * *

"Just admit it, Sam." Bonnie rolled her eyes at me. I sighed for the fifth time tonight since I've gotten here. Bonnie was trying to get my to admit that Stefan was a potential love interest for me, but I wasn't completely sure. I just met the guy the other day.

"He's obviously gorgeous." I said with a roll of my brown eyes. Bonnie and Elena smirked in satisfaction. I finally said something they wanted to hear.

"He has that romance novel stare." Bonnie nodded to me. She sighed dramatically. "'_Stefan looked into her eyes, piercing into her soul.'" _Bonnie quoted one of her mushy romance novels. I laughed loudly before shoving Bonnie away from me.

"You're unbelievable." I laughed at the brunette.

"So, where is he?" Elena said still laughing from me and Bonnie.

"I don't know." I shrugged with a sigh. I looked around me but I couldn't see anyone with piercing green eyes that ripped through my soul. "Bonnie, you're the physic, you tell me where he is."

Bonnie laughed and nodded. "Right, I forgot. Give me a second. Grams tells me that I have to concentrate."

"Wait!" Elena interrupted jokingly. "You need something." She looked around before grabbing a beer bottle from the ground and handing it to Bonnie. "Crystal ball."

Bonnie laughed and took the bottle from Elena's hands. Suddenly, Bonnie's smile fades and I looked between the two of them but couldn't sense anything out of order.

"What?" Elena asked pulling away from Bonnie. Bonnie looked at the both of us nervous.

"It was weird. When I touched Elena, I saw a crow." Bonnie whispered. I shared a look with Elena. We were having issues with a crow just yesterday at the graveyard.

"What?" I asked. I feel like it was just too weird, right?

"A crow." Bonnie repeated. "There was fog. A man." Bonnie listed everything she had sensed, or saw when she touched Elena. With every word that Bonnie said, Elena and I got more nervous. Bonnie looked at both our expressions before waving the whole thing off. "I'm drunk. It's the drink. There is nothing physic about it." Bonnie shook her head. "Yeah? I'm going to get another one." Bonnie pointed to the beer table and left us.

"Bonnie!" I shouted after her. I was worried about her. All this stuff her Grams was talking to her about was really getting her worried about things that she wouldn't worry about beforehand. I sighed and turned back around to face Elena but almost jumped out of my skin when I saw Stefan standing behind me. I sighed and put my hand over to heart slowing my heart rate down a little. "Jeez." I muttered under my breath.

"Hi." Stefan said with a loopy smile. I smiled back up at him before repeating the greeting.

"Sam, I'm going to go make sure Bonnie's okay." Elena pointed in the direction that Bonnie left.

I nodded my head. "Yeah, be careful."

"Will do." She nodded before taking off to look for our friend.

"You're upset about something." Stefan pointed out, focusing into my emotions.

I looked back over to the green eyed male with a raised brow. "No." I shook my head with a sigh. "It's just Bonnie. She's..." I looked back to see Stefan's face full of concern. This was a party, I didn't need to start any friend drama and make it all dreary. I shook my head. "You know what, never mind." I smiled brightly up at Stefan. "You're here. You came." I said excitedly.

"I'm here." Stefan nodded with a matching smile.

"Did you get a drink yet?" I asked, noticing his empty hands.

"I did not." He laughed.

I grabbed his cool hand into mine and pulled him away from the fire where Elena, Bonnie, and I were talking. "Then let's go!" I laughed over the music.

"You know, you're kind of a big shot around town." I stated looking at Stefan. I had let go of his hand after being reassured that he was following me.

"Am I?" Stefan asked curious.

"You're all anyone talks about. The mysterious new guy." I laughed and rolled my eyes. "I just think they're scared to actually figure out the mystery, but that's half the fun." I winked in Stefan's direction.

We reached the table with all the beer and I grabbed two of them before passing a couple bills to the guy behind the counter. Stefan looked like he was going to interrupt and pay for himself but I shoved away his money. "No worries." I shook my head. He sighed but nodded.

"You have that mysterious think going on, too." Stefan mentioned when we were away from the big group of people fighting over their drinks. "Twinged in with sadness and loneliness." Stefan pointed out frowning.

"What makes you think I'm sad and lonely?" I asked with a fake smile. I just met this guy and he could already read me like a book. Either, I wasn't doing as good of a job as I thought I was trying to be happy, or he was really good at reading people.

"Well, we did meet at the graveyard." Stefan joked.

"Well, no." I laughed. "Technically, we met in front of the boy's bathroom." I smiled up at him before getting back to the other subject. "You don't want to know about any of it. It's not exactly great party chit-chat."

Stefan laughed. "Well, I've never really been very good at, uh, chit-chat."

We came to the bridge that was far enough away from the buzz of people talking and the loud sounds of music playing. I sighed and turned to Stefan, stopping halfway onto the bridge.

"About 4 months ago in Spring, both my and Elena's parents drove off a bridge into the lake." I turned away from Stefan's intense gaze, looking down at the dark river below us, reflecting the stars and the moon.

"I was on my way home from the park. I had just got into a fight with my dad and needed to get out of the house. I was always the one kid that would run to a childhood spot, that happened to be the playground. Of course, my dad knew where I would be, and he picked me up. During the drive home, we were fighting." I sighed in the middle of my story. "He looked back at me the same time we got onto the bridge. No one knows how hit who first. Whether my dad lost control of the car and hit Elena's parent's car, who was coming back from picking her up at a party because she was drunk. Or they hit us. But we both went over the bridge's edge and fell into the deep waters. My dad never woke back up after that night." I finished my story with a sad sigh. "And that's my story."

"You won't be sad forever, Sam." Stefan looked down at me softly. I looked up from the water to see his green eyes watching me carefully.

"I hope not."

* * *

"I liked Elena and Bonnie, they look like good friends." Stefan commented. We were finally off the subject of my dad's death, now we were talking about Bonnie and Elena.

"They're great. The best friends a girl can have." I laughed looking at them from far away.

"And Matt, he can't seem to take his eyes off Elena, or us." Stefan pointed out as Matt looked over at us before returning to his conversation with Bonnie.

I sighed. "Matt's that friend since childhood that you owe it to yourself to always look out for. We've known each other forever." I shrugged nonchalantly.

"And?" Stefan pushed knowing that there's more.

"And, he was my first kiss." I laughed. "It wasn't anything special. It was at a big middle school party and we were playing _7 Minutes in Heaven_ and I got Matt. We talked the whole time before we finally just did it. It obviously was awkward considering Matt's like a brother to me."

"What about Elena?" Stefan asked turning his head slightly before looking down at me again.

"Matt and Elena..." I thought about it for a second. "After Elena's parents died, everything changed for her. Before, they were the power couple. A star football player, and a small cheerleader, cheering him on at every game. But then nothing mattered to Elena anymore. What she thought mattered, really didn't, and she grew up. She realized that what they had wasn't..." I paused to try and figure out a word to use.

"Passionate?" Stefan offered. I snapped my fingers and nodded at him.

"Exactly. It wasn't passionate." I agreed.

Stefan gulped before looking away from me to the ground. He started rubbing his eye but I got a small glimpse of it before he turned away. It looked like something was in his eye the way it was so red. "Hey, are you okay? Your eye..." I reached out with my hand to comfort him.

"Yeah. I know. It's nothing." Stefan cleared his throat. "Are you thirsty? I'm going to get us a drink." Stefan grabbed my cup before turning around and going back down the bridge.

I watched Stefan's body retreat before sighing. I shook my head at his bipolar attitude before going to find someone to have fun with.

* * *

I watched Matt leave Elena speechless before I made my way over to the lonely teen. "Damn." I sighed under my breath. She nodded silently. "Are you okay?" I asked turning to the brunette.

"Yeah. I'll be fine. I just don't like hurting him. He still thinks we can have a future together but I don't see it." Elena explained with a breathy voice.

I nodded my head in understanding. "Of course. You shouldn't be with someone because you feel bad. It should be because you love them."

She nodded along with me. I looked up to see Stefan pushing Caroline away. She looked at Stefan's retreating body with a sullen face before turning around and walking the other way.

"I was wondering who had kidnapped you, but I can see that it was the devil herself." I laughed at Stefan. Caroline wasn't that bad... sober.

"Is she like that with every guy?" Stefan asked coming closer to Elena and I.

Elena and I shared a look before turning to Stefan. "Pretty much." We said at the same time.

"Sometime's worse." I shrugged.

"You got to be kidding me!" Elena shouted looking in the other direction, behind me. I turned my head to see Jeremy walking into the forest, with drunken steps.

"What?" Stefan asked confused on what was happening.

"My brother." Elena sighed.

"The drunk one?" Stefan asked again.

"That will be the one." I confirmed with an angry sigh. "He's going to get himself killed."

"Do you need help?" Stefan asked looking down at Elena and I.

"Trust me, Stefan. You don't wanna see this." I said as Elena pushed past us calling out to her brother.

"Will she be okay?" Stefan asked concerned.

"She'll be fine. She'll yell at him like she always does, threaten to try and get him to stop. It won't work. She'll get madder at her brother before complaining to me about which I will need to defuse and tell her that he's just a 15 year old boy and he needs to make his own mistakes. Blah, blah, blah..." I sighed at the end of the sentence.

"Every time?" Stefan asked with a slight grin jokingly.

"Seems like it." I grinned back. "You'll see."

* * *

I was talking about nonsense to Stefan when I heard Elena's shout. "Somebody help!" She called. I turned around to see her and Jeremy heaving a body out of the woods. I quickly dismissed Stefan before running over to help the two Gilbert's.

"Vicki?" Matt asked coming closer. "What the hell?" He yelled helping us.

"What happened to her?" Tyler asked as he made his way through the crowd.

"Call an ambulance." I ordered someone in the crowd. I pulled off my cardigan before holding it to Vicki's neck to apply pressure. "Tyler, back everyone up. She needs air to breath." I ordered the line-back receiver.

"Everyone back off! Give her space." Tyler ordered holding back the crowd.

"It's her neck." I explained to Matt when he came up next to me concerned. "Something got to her. She is losing a lot of blood." I tried applying more pressure to the wound without hurting Vicki.

"Come on, Vicki. Open your eyes. Look at me." Matt pleaded. He grabbed his sister's hand and held on tightly. I knew that Vicki wasn't going to wake up. She lost too much blood. We needed to get her to the hospital now.

I looked up remembering about Stefan. He was in the back of the crowd, watching with concerned eyes. His green orbs met my brown ones and I nodded my head. "_It's okay."_ I mouthed to Stefan. He nodded at me before turning away from the site and leaving. I knew that he wasn't a fan of blood. We didn't need two people going to the hospital tonight.

* * *

**Stefan's POV:**

I ran into the old building, scaring Zach almost off his desk. He turned away from his work to look at me coming into the house. "What's going on?" He asked confused.

"Someone else was attacked tonight. And it wasn't me, Zach." I explained quickly before running into my room.

I immediately feel like someone was in my room the moment I got into it. I looked around carefully before a crow flew into the room with a loud shriek. The black bird circled around my room before it flew back outside. I turned to watch the mysterious bird only to found someone who I haven't seen for 15 years. Dressed in all black with a thick leather jacket, and a smirk to match was my brother. "Damon."

"Hello, brother." Damon greeted with his usual smirk on his face.

"The crow is a bit much, don't you think?" I thought out loud. My brother was always one for dramatics. Damon started circling me like I was his pray. He looked around at all the things that I had in my room.

"Wait and see what I can do with the fog." Damon smirked over at me.

"When did you get here?" I growled at my brother.

"Well, I couldn't miss your first day of school." Damon teased. "Your hair's different. I like it."

"It's been 15 years, Damon." I stated with a roll of my eyes.

"Thank God." Damon sighed dramatically. "I couldn't take another day on the 90's, that horrible grunge look. Did not suit you." Damon pointed out walking to a different book shelf. "Remember Stefan, it's important to stay away from fads."

"Why are you here?" I asked in a low voice making Damon turn around to look at me.

"I missed my little brother-" Damon tried starting but I stopped him.

"You have small towns. It's boring. There's nothing for you to do." I pointed out like it was obvious. I narrowed my bright eyes.

"I managed to keep myself busy." Damon shrugged with humor. He enjoyed watching me struggle.

"You know, you left that girl alive tonight." I mentioned about the 'animal' attack. "That was very clumsy of you."

"That could be a problem... for you." Damon shrugged.

"Why are you here now?" I demanded for the second time tonight.

"I could ask you the same question. However, I'm certain the answer stays with one little word, Samantha." Damon smirked knowing that he was right. He was right about the fact I stayed because I wanted to know her, but not about why. "She took my breath away, Sam. She's a dead ringing for Rena. And Elena, woo, she's exactly like Katherine. Is it working, Stefan? Being around Samantha, being in her world? She make you feel alive?" Damon taunted with a nasty growl.

"She's not Rena." I shook my head.

"Let's hope not. We both know how that ended. Tell me something, when was the last time you ate something stronger than squirrel?" Damon teased about my eating diets.

"I know what you are trying to do, Damon." I shook my head. "It's not going to work." I turned away from my brother. I didn't need to hear what he had to say.

"Yeah?" Damon questioned. I could feel the anger inside me start to fuel. "Come on. Don't you crave a little?"

"Stop!" I growled to my brother. I tried to ignore him.

"Let's do it!" Damon jumped at the thought. "The two of us together. I saw a couple of girls out there. Or we can just cut to the chase and go straight to Samantha. Or maybe that pretty Elena."

"Stop it." I pushed Damon away from me.

"Imagine the taste of their blood." Damon tempted me. "I can."

I looked up at the mirror to see my white eyes turn black and veins start to pop underneath my eyes. "I said stop!" I growled before turning around and running for Damon.

We smashed through the window with an unbeatable force. I felt the impact of the concrete floor before I really thought about it. I looked up from the ground to see that I was alone on the ground and Damon was standing away from where we landed, watching me struggle. I stood up from the ground and dusted off my clothes.

"I was impressed." Damon spoke up. I looked up at the dark vampire. I death glared him. If only looks could kill. "I give it a six. Missing style, but I was pleasantly surprised. Very good with the face." Damon mocked the snarling noise that I made just a few minutes ago. "It was good."

"It's always fun and games with you, Damon. But wherever you go, people die." I commented with facts.

Damon chuckled. "That's given."

"Not here." I shook my head. "I won't allow it."

"I take that as an invitation." Damon commented.

"Damon, please. After all these years, can we just give it a rest?" I begged the only way to get through to Damon.

"I promised you an eternity of misery so I'm just keeping my word." Damon shrugged his shoulders.

I sighed knowing there was no way I could make Damon leave Mystic Falls. "Just stay away from Sam- and Elena." I added at the end.

"Where is your ring?" Damon questioned looking down at my hand. I quickly touched my finger where my big, bulky ring usually sat. To find it empty made me start to freak out a little bit. I looked around on the floor to see if it fell off my finger when I landed. "Right, the sun is coming up in a couple of hours, and poof, ashes to ashes." Damon tsked. "Relax. It's right here."

Damon passed me my ring. I watched Damon with caution. I slipped the ring carefully back onto my finger, relaxing now that I didn't have to worry about the sun coming up. Just as I was letting my guard down; Damon's vampiric face turned towards me with a snarl. He grabbed me by my throat before throwing me against the garage doors.

"You should know you aren't stronger than me. You lost that fight when you stopped feeding on people." Damon commented coming closer to my laying body. "I wouldn't try again."

A door opening turned us away from each other. "I think we woke up, Zach." Damon said with a smirk. "Sorry, Zach." He laughed before walking back into the house.

I sighed against the wall. This wasn't going to be fun.

* * *

**Sam's POV:**

_Dear Diary,_

_Well, Diary, I couldn't be more wrong about everything. I thought it could be easy smiling at people and pretending I was okay with my life. But I couldn't be more wrong. I had a plan this year. I was going to be someone different. Someone without pain. Someone without a past. But it's not that easy. The bad things stay with you for life. We can't escape from them. No matter how much you want to._

I pulled away from my journal when a knock on the door interrupted me. I looked up from the couch to see Stefan on the porch, waiting at the door. I got up from the pale couch before answering the door with a smile.

"I know it's late, but I needed to know that you were okay." Stefan said in a small voice. I sighed as I let go of the smile that I was playing.

"You know." I laughed humorlessly. "For months, people ask me that and all I can say is, '_I'm fine, thank you._'"

"Do you mean it?" Stefan asked with the same voice as before.

I sighed as I thought about it. "Ask me tomorrow." I smiled softly at the green eyed boy. I looked back at the house before stepping aside. "It's more warm in the house. We can talk inside. Would you like to come in?" I asked with bright eyes.

"Yes." Stefan answered with a gracious smile.

* * *

**What do you think of Sam? If you want to know how I view her, you can look up Meghan Markle. I love Elena and Stefan's relationship, but I love Elena and Damon's relationship too. I already have a successful Damon/OC story, that you guys can go check out, so I thought about making one for Stefan. It is going to be Damon/Elena later on when they get together in the show. It just won't be awkward because there is no love triangle-thing. Or whatever you want to call it.**

**Well, let me know what you guys think about this story. I'm not sure where this story is going, but I will update if you guys think this is a good idea. :)**

**Love,  
Swim-**


	2. Night Of The Comet

**You guys seemed to like my first chapter so I definitely wanted to get another chapter in for you guys. Let me know what you guys think.**

**I don't own anything but Sam.**

* * *

**Chapter Two: Night of the Comet**

I looked at the fog that was slowly making it's way out of the sky before looking at my journal and writing my thoughts down.

_Dear Diary,_

_This morning is so different. I feel a change. I can sense it coming. I'm awake for the first time in, God only knows how long. I feel complete. I don't feel regret when I first wake up, like I usually do. I actually want this day to begin, I welcome it. Because I know, I will see him again. I feel good, Diary, I feel good._

I closed my journal after I put my entry in this morning and I got up to get ready for the day. I slipped on my Jack Daniels Tennessee Whiskey tank top and my red skinny jeans. I paired that off with my black and white converse. I put in my feather earings and my black bracelet before walking out my door.

I looked up to see Jenna and Elena talking in the hallway. Elena smiled over at me before turning back to Jenna.

"Do I look like an adult?" Jenna asked the both of us for an honest opinion. "As in a respectful parent?" She continued. I looked down at her outfit and nodded along with her.

"Depends on where you're going." Elena spoke up.

"Jeremy's parent-teacher conference." Jenna explained with a tired sigh.

"Ah." I understood what her issue was. She was meeting up with Tanner. And a student that doesn't do well along with a teacher that has anger issues is never good.

"Hair up or down?" Jenna asked showing us both options.

"Sexy stewardess." I said looking at her with her hair up. "Boozy housewife." I said with a smile as Jenna put her hair down.

"Up it is." Jenna said with a laugh. "You're feisty today." Jenna commented to me.

"I feel feisty." I laughed along with Elena. "I feel good today. So, I'm just going to go with the flow, walk on sunshine, spread my wings, etc. All kinds of good stuff."

"Where is Jeremy?" Elena asked noticing that Jeremy wasn't in his room. I looked down the stairs but I didn't see or hear him around.

"He left early." Jenna answered. She shrugged her slender shoulders. "Something about needing to finish a bird house for wood shop..." She paused in her sentence when she saw the weird look that Elena and I were pulling at her. "There is no wood shop, is there?" Jenna asked with a sigh.

"No." Elena and I said at the same time. Jenna sighed again before grabbing her purse.

"Great." She shook her head before heading down the stairs and out to her car.

I laughed after Jenna and Elena smirked in my direction. "What?" I asked with a raised brow.

"You are in a good mood." She laughed at me.

"I am." I agreed with a laugh.

"Does this good mood have anything to do with a certain green eyed boy?" Elena asked with a knowing tone.

"I don't know what you're talking about." I said feigning dumb. Elena laughed over at me before patting my shoulder.

"Okay, Sam. Whatever you say." She shook her head before going downstairs and outside to wait for Bonnie. I shook my head before following after my best friend.

* * *

"Originally discovered five centuries ago, it hasn't been over in Mystic Falls in over 145 years." Tanner started to explain the comet that was happening tomorrow. I rolled my eyes before catching my eye on Stefan's smiling face. I smiled back brightly.

"Now, the comet will be it's brightest right after dusk during tomorrow's celebration." Tanner said before stopping in his explanation to look at Stefan and I.

"Are we bothering you, Mr. Salvatore? Miss. Markley?" He questioned. I looked away from Stefan's green eyes to Tanner's angry face.

"No, Tanner." I said with a sigh and leaned back in my seat.

"It's_ Mr_. Tanner to you, Markley." He said with a glare before getting back to his speech. I rolled my eyes when Elena looked over at me. She laughed before turning back to the front of the class.

I looked one more time to Stefan to see that he was smirking at the front of the class. I shook my head before focusing on Tanner's boring voice.

* * *

"I brought it. Told you." Stefan said pulling out a rare movie out of his bag.

I grabbed it in my hands before smiling up at him. "The original Romeo and Juliet. This is so hard to find in mint condition." I sighed at the title.

"I know." Stefan laughed at me.

"Where did you get it?" I asked curious. "I've looked everywhere I could think of."

"Uh, it was passed down." Stefan shrugged. He rubbed the back of his neck before smiling down at me. "Through the family, you know?"

"Ah." I laughed before handing it back to him.

He shook his head with a smirk. "I have lots of movies. Go ahead. Keep it." He said with a sure voice.

"I can't keep this." I shook my head. "But I would like to watch it again..." I said looking down at the shining cover. "Okay. I'll watch it and give it right back. I promise." I smiled up at the teenage boy.

"Okay." He agreed with a smile.

"Come on. We still have 5 classes to get through today." I said with a laugh before grabbing his hand and leading him to English.

* * *

I looked around the parking lot and then spotted young Gilbert staring down Tyler Lockwood. I groaned as I looked around to see that no one was around that could stop them. I slapped my forehead knowing that I was going to regret this one day. I ran over to where the two boys were glaring down at each other before going near Jeremy's tall figure.

"I'm going to kick your ass." Tyler glared at Jeremy before stepping closer to him. Jeremy wasn't even affected by Tyler.

"Walk away, Tyler." I said stepping closer to the line-backer.

"You keep saying that, but when are you actually going to do it? Huh?" Jeremy taunted. "'Cause I vote for right here and right now."

"Walk away, Jeremy." I grabbed Jeremy's arm to stop him from advancing towards Tyler. I've seen Tyler fight when I use to hang out with him every day, he doesn't stop until he sees blood.

"This is your final warning." Tyler said with a glare.

"No, this is your final warning, dick." Jeremy growled before shrugging me off and stepping closer to Tyler. "I'm sick of watching you play Vicki. If you hurt her one more time, I swear to God, I will kill you." Jeremy promised to Tyler before taking off in the other direction.

"Damn, that was like a death threat." Tyler said and looked back at the group of girls behind him. "Did you hear that?"

"Honestly, Tyler? Grow up. You're in high school, not middle school." I rolled my eyes at the young Lockwood before turning around.

"Sam, he came up to me first." He growled out to me.

"So be the bigger man, Tyler." I said as I turned around. I started walking backwards still looking at Tyler. "Don't be stupid. You don't need to fight the kid." I didn't give him a chance to answer as I turned around fully and taking off.

Apparently, I was looking where I was going and I bumped into a large body. I looked up to see familiar blue eyes. I stepped back and laughed. "Sorry, Matt. I wasn't looking where I was going."

He nodded at me with blank eyes. "That's okay." He tried to smile.

"Is Vicki okay?" I asked with a concerned voice.

"They said that she'll live, so yeah." Matt nodded. "Thank you, for everything you did last night. They said that if you hadn't used your shirt to try and stop the bleeding, she'd be dead right now."

"Anytime, Matty." I said using my old nickname for him.

He smiled slightly before changing the subject. "So, what's up with you and the new guy?" Matt asked looking at Stefan's back.

"Matt." I shook my head.

"Right. None of my business." He lifted his hands to show that he surrendered. I laughed at him. He smiled down at me. I could see some life coming back into his eyes.

"I'm going to go to the hospital. I want to be there when Vicki wakes up, get the real story about last night." Matt explained rubbing the back of his head. I nodded my head at him.

"Tell her I said to get better." I said with a slight smile. He nodded before turning around and walking back to his car.

I turned to look at Stefan but sighed sadly when I saw that he wasn't there anymore.

* * *

I picked up a fry that was on Elena's plate and she slapped my hand away but let me eat the fry. I laughed at her before listening back to Bonnie's story.

"I was talking to Grams, and she said the comet is a sign of impending doom. The last tim it passed over Mystic Falls, there was lots of death. So much blood and carnage, it created a bed of paranormal activity." Bonnie explained what her Grandma Sheila told her.

"Yeah, and then you poured Grams another shot and she told you about aliens." Caroline said sarcastically shooting Bonnie's ideas down. "So, then what?" Caroline turned to me. I sighed as she tried to get information about what happened with Stefan and I last night.

"So, then nothing." I sighed for the second time.

"You and Stefan talked all night?" Caroline asked and then looked at Elena who nodded her head to confirm her statement. "There was no sloppy first kiss or touchy feely of any kind?"

I laughed at the blonde. "No. We didn't go there, Care."

"Not even a handshake?" Caroline asked. "I mean, Samantha, we are your friends." She said using my full name. I rolled my eyes laughing. "Okay? You are suppose to share the smut."

"Would you like me to tell you about our hand shake at the end of the night?" I laughed sarcastically and Caroline rolled her eyes.

"What is with the blockage? Just jump his bones already! Okay, it's easy!" Caroline said getting excited. "Boy likes girl, girl likes boy, sex!" Caroline explained with her hands.

"Profound." Elena said rolling her eyes but smiling at the blonde.

I laughed but got up from my spot. "Where are you going?" Bonnie asked looking at me with curious eyes.

"To jump his bones." I said sarcastically. I held up the poster for the comet tomorrow night. "I'm going to go get me a date." I winked at the group of girls.

* * *

I arrived at the boarding house. It was a big house, but it was empty. There were not that many people in the overly big building. I went up to the door and knocked. It opened in the second knock and I slowly put my fist down. I looked around outside to see if I could see anyone before I looked into the building. I didn't feel right going into the house without being invited in properly.

"Stefan?" I called out into the empty building but I didn't get a reply. "Zach?" I tried calling out again but still no answer. I sighed when I found out no one was home before turning around. I jumped out of my skin when I noticed that there was a male that I've never seen before standing right behind me. I gasped and put my hand to my chest, still aware of how the male was looking at me. "You scared me." I said with an awkward laugh.

"You must be Samantha." The male smirked down at me.

"Sam." I corrected with a shrug.

"I'm Damon, Stefan's brother." 'Damon' explained to me. I looked for a sibling resemblance. They had the same nose and thick hair.

"Stefan hasn't really said anything about you." I said with a shrug. I felt bad that he knew about me but I wasn't aware of his existence.

"Well, Stefan's not one to brag." Damon smirked. I enjoyed the way Damon made the situation a little less awkward with his joking. I felt myself relax around the blue eyed male. "Please, come in. I'm sure Stefan will be along any second." Damon stepped inside the house and I followed him shortly. As long as I've lived in Mystic Falls, I've never actually been inside Zach Salvatore's house.

I laughed a little when I saw the living room. "_This_ is your living room?" I said looking around at all the nic-nacs around the room, along with all collectables.

"Living room, parlor, or a seventies auction." Damon shrugged. "It's a little kitschy for my taste." Damon explained.

"My dad would have loved all this stuff." I laughed shaking my head at the house.

"I see why my brother's so smitten." Damon said out of the blue.

I looked at Damon from my spot around the couch. I raised an eyebrow at him. "Smitten?" I asked with a laugh.

"Yeah." Damon nodded with a sigh. "It's about time. For a while there, I never though he'd get over the last one. Nearly destroyed him."

"We've all been there." I said with a sigh. Damon hummed. "We haven't really talked about our past much." I shrugged.

"Well, I'm sure Rena will come up now. Or maybe he didn't want to tell you because he didn't want you to think he was on the all know how those relationships end." Damon said with another sigh.

I laughed a little. "You say that like all relationships are doomed to end." I rolled my eyes before walking over to the book shelf and looking at the books they had in collection.

"I'm a fatalist." Damon shrugged.

"That's a way to live." I said sarcastically with a smirk.

"Hello, Stefan." Damon said looking behind him. I looked up from the book shelf to see Stefan standing in the doorway. He glared angrily at his brother before looking at me with a soften expression.

"Sam. I didn't know you were coming over." Stefan said looking back to his brother.

"It wasn't exactly planned." I shrugged my shoulders with an awkward laugh. I could feel the tension in the room ever since Damon greeted his brother. You could cut it with a knife, it was so thick. "I probably should have just texted you to tell you..."

"Oh, don't be silly." Damon smirked. "You're welcome any time. Isn't she, Stefan?" Damon looked at his brother. I cleared my throat when Stefan didn't say anything. "You know, I should break out the family photo albums or some home movies. But, I have to warn you; he wasn't always such a looker." Damon winked over at me.

I laughed. "That's okay. I should probably get back to passing out flyers." I said noticing how uncomfortable Stefan was. I stepped around Damon.

"Thank you for stopping by, Sam." Stefan said glancing at me before back to his brother. "Nice to see you again."

"Maybe if you actually looked at me, it would be." I said looking up at Stefan before turning back to Damon. I could see Stefan look down at me in the corner of my eye. "It was nice meeting you, Damon." I smiled at the dark haired male.

"Greet meeting you, too, Sam." Damon smiled before putting his hand out to shake. I placed mine in his gently and shook it. Damon leaned down slightly before kissing the back of my hand.

I pulled my hand out of Damon's when he was done before turning around. I ran into Stefan's body. He wasn't even looking at me, again, he kept on staring at his brother. I know he said he didn't talk to his brother, but this was ridiculous.

"Stefan." I said loudly to get his attention back to me. "I can't leave if you don't move." I pointed out with a stern voice. Stefan glanced down at me before moving out of my way, allowing me to get out of the house. I shook my head at the boy before shutting the door behind me and getting into my car.

* * *

"He's on the rebound and has raging family issues?" Elena guessed after I explained what happened when I went over Stefan's earlier. I shook my head at my best friend, not at all what I said.

"Well, at least it's an ex-girlfriend." Jenna said speaking up. "Wait till you date a guy with mommy issues or cheating issues." Jenna thought about something. "Or amphetamine issues." She added.

"He's not on the rebound." I pointed out to Elena. "He's just been hurt by his ex, like we've never been through that. And for the family issues, he said he never talks to his brother, so you could only guess how awkward it is for them. Damon looked to be about 24 at least. Old enough to move out and get his own house, so they probably haven't talked since Damon got out of high school." I shrugged my shoulders, guessing. They both nodded.

The front door opened and we all looked to see Jeremy coming into the house. Elena and I looked back to Jenna to see her getting ready to talk to the younger Gilbert.

"Jeremy?" Jenna called out to the teenager. I stopped looking through the magazine to watch what was about to happen. "Jeremy, where were you?" Jenna asked when he didn't answer her.

"More stoner stories?" Jeremy asked his aunt. "Look, Jenna, I get it. You were cool. And so, that's... that's cool." Jeremy turned to go walk up the stairs and Jenna grabbed an apple on the counter.

"Oh, no, no, no!" She said before throwing the apple at the back of his head. I snorted a laugh out when it hit him perfectly.

"Ow!" Jeremy shouted. "Why? Why? Why did you do that?" Jeremy asked surprised at his aunt.

"Listen up!" Jenna said sternly. "Quit ditching class or you're grounded. No discussion."

"Parental authority. I like it. Sleep tight." Jeremy said sarcastically before going back up the stairs into his room.

I shook my head at the young boy when Jenna came back into the kitchen. "Well, that was a waste." She sighed before sinking back into her chair across from Elena and I.

"He'll come around." I shrugged looking back into my magazine.

"He has to." Elena sighed.

* * *

I passed another flyer to a couple passing me before turning back to Bonnie and Elena on my right.

"Tonight is the night of the comet!" Bonnie said loudly before looking at a couple. "Would you like a program?" She asked and then handed it to them. They grabbed it out of her hand before leaving. Bonnie turned back to me. "He didn't call, huh?"

"Or text." I shook my head. "We only really exchanged numbers. We don't call each other or text."

"That's an important milestone in any relationship." Elena pointed out.

"I know." I shrugged. "I feel like the timing is wrong, anyway." I said sadly.

"When is it ever right?" Bonnie asked.

"Touche." I sighed. "I don't know."

"Who does?" Elena asked.

"At least I put myself out there." I shrugged making a point.

"Is that what you're calling it?" Bonnie asked with a raised eyebrow.

"What is that supposed to mean?" I asked Bonnie with an equally raised eyebrow.

"All I'm hearing is reasons why you can't." Bonnie pointed out.

"And nothing about the reasons why you should." Elena finished.

I thought about what they both said. "You're right." I said, and they were. I guess I never really thought about it that way. I should be thankful that I get a chance to have a good time. With my only family dying on me, I never really see many things positive anymore. I laugh and I have a good time, but that doesn't mean that I'm not sad about anything. I know how to have a good time, but I can't shake the fact that I'm the only Markley left. My dad never had any silbings and his parents died when I was young.

"Come on, Sam. Let's get the rest of these passed out before we get ready for tonight." Elena said shaking me out of my thoughts. I nodded my head with a smile and passed out another flyer to a passing family.

"The comet's tonight, take a flyer."

* * *

"Hey, we got some candles." Caroline and I said as we walked closer to Bonnie and Elena. We eached passed them a candle before lighting it with ours.

Elena turned around and lite Matt's candle. They both started talking. Bonnie walked away and started lighting people's candles along with Caroline. I turned around and lite someone else's candle. I looked up at the owner to see Stefan smiling down at me.

"Thank you." Stefan smiled. "Hi."

"Hi." I greeted back. I stepped away from all the people along with Stefan and over more towards a clear patch of grass. I knew that Stefan was following after me, I didn't need eyes in the back of my head to know this.

"You know, that comet, it's been traveling across space for thousands of years, all alone." Stefan stated the fact looking up at the sky.

"Yeah." I nodded. "Bonnie said it's a harbinger of evil, but I don't want to think it of it like that."

"What do you think is it?" Stefan asked.

"I think that it's, like you said, alone. It's stuck on something it can't escape." I explained before looking at him. "What about you?"

"I think it's just a ball of snow and ice, trapped on a path that it can't escape. And once every 145 years, it gets to come home." Stefan explained before looking down at me. "I'm sorry about yesterday." Stefan started. "I wasn't myself and Damon is somethings infuriating."

"You apologize a lot." I commented lightly.

"I have a lot to apologize for." Stefan shrugged. "Yesterday, that wasn't about you, okay?" He said trying to get me to understand. The thing is, I already understood.

"You said you didn't talk to your brother?" I questioned.

"We're not close." Stefan sighed. "It's, uh... it's complicated."

"Isn't it always?" I asked with a humorless laugh. "He told me about your ex. Katherine, was it?" I said looking up at the green eyed boy.

"What did he say?" Stefan asked surprised that I knew. I didn't know much. I just know that it ended badly, or I can assume.

"Not much. Just that she broke your heart." I said with a sad sigh.

"That was a long time ago." Stefan stated.

"When you lose someone, it stays with you. It always reminds you of how easy it is to get hurt by someone." I said thinking about my father. I knew how much it hurt to lose someone that was close to you.

"Sam..." Stefan sighed and was about to start a speech but I shook my head with a smile.

"Honestly, it's okay, Stefan." I shrugged with a smile. "I get it. Complicated life? Check. Complicated ex? I understand. Too complicated to even contemplate dating? Double check that for me." I dropped the smile that was on my face. "It's okay, honest. We met, and we talked. It was epic. But then the sun came up and reality set in and the reality is that; we need to figure out our life before we can even consider dating each other." I stopped and waited for Stefan to say something. When he didn't say anything, I sighed. "So..." I shrugged before blowing out my candle and turning away from the green eyed boy.

* * *

"Hey, has anyone seen Vicki?" Little Gilbert came over to our table where Tyler, Caroline, Bonnie, Matt, Elena, and I were sitting and talking. I was sitting leaning against Matt and he had his arm around my shoulder. Matt and I were literally like brother and sister. I went to him for everything. I was a little sad when Elena and him broke up, Elena being the closest thing I had to a sister, but I knew Elena's side of the story and I understood.

"You're her stalker. You tell us." Tyler snapped at Jeremy. I slapped his arm and he glared over at me. I raised my eyebrow, challenging him but he just turned back to Jeremy.

"I can't find her." Jeremy stated worried about Matt's older sister.

"She probably found someone else to party with." Tyler commented opening his big mouth again. "Sorry, _pill pusher,_ I guess you've been replaced."

"What's with the pill pusher?" Elena asked looking at Tyler.

"Ask him." Tyler said nodding at Jeremy. I shook my head at the younger boy. He use to be a good kid but he just didn't take the death of his parents well, none of us did.

"You wanna do this right now?" Jeremy asked Tyler.

"Boys, stop." I snapped looking at the two glaring at each other.

"Are you dealing?" Elena asked shocked.

"She's never going to go for you." Tyler pointed out to the younger teen. I shook my head at Tyler. I grew up with him, but he could really be a dick to people.

"She already did. Over and over and over again." Jeremy said with a sneer.

"Yeah, right." Tyler said not believing a word Jeremy was saying. As I looked around the table, I could tell that no one else believed it either. I could believe it. No offense to Matt, but Vicki didn't exactly know how to keep her legs closed. If Jeremy was showing interest in her, of course she would screw him.

"You slept with Vicki Donovan?" Caroline asked surprised. "I mean, Vicki Donovan slept with you?"

"There's no way." Tyler repeated.

"And I didn't even have to force her into it." Jeremy shot at Tyler. I looked at Tyler surprised. Matt leaned up straighter and looked at his best friend.

"What the hell is he talking about, Ty?" Matt asked.

"Nothing, man. Just ignore him. He's a punk." Tyler shrugged Jeremy off.

"Grow up, Tyler." I said with a shake of my head.

"Listen, Markley-" Tyler started but Matt cut him off.

"You know what, how about all of you shut up and help me find my sister?" Matt asked getting really worried about Vicki.

"We'll check the back." Bonnie said speaking up for the first time since Jeremy came to the table and leaving with Caroline in tow.

"I'll check the square." Matt said leaving the table.

"I'll come with you." Jeremy and I said at the same time. I jumped off of the table and followed after the blue eyed teen. I saw Elena stop Jeremy from searching for Vicki, probably to talk to him about his drug addiction and now the dealing.

I caught up to Matt and we walked around the town square, trying to find a hint that Vicki was around here. Matt stopped before looking over at Stefan. He walked up to him and I followed after him, still looking around me.

"Hey." Matt greeted urgently.

"Hey." Stefan greeted back.

"Have you seen my sister?" Matt asked worriedly, but hopeful that he had.

"No, sorry." Stefan said with a sad expression.

"I can't find her. She's missing." Matt said getting more worried by the minute.

"I'll keep an eye out for her." Stefan vowed.

"I'm going to go check over there." I pointed to a bunch of people sitting around. "Maybe she's over there. I'll yell if I find her." I said walking away from the two boys. I sighed when I was away from Stefan. Now, let's find a missing 18 year old.

* * *

I looked around the Grill again and saw Matt taking care of Vicki's wounds. I got a text from him a while ago saying that he found her. Matt looked up at me and I smiled before pointing down at my watch and pointing out the door as to say, 'I got to go.' He nodded his head. I turned around and left the Grill to head back home.

I got home in record time and I heard noises coming from Jeremy's room as I was walking up the stairs. I looked into the room to see Elena leaning against the doorway and Jenna searching his room.

"I see the hiding places haven't gotten any more creative." Jenna said holding up a pipe from Jeremy's boot. I shook my head at the younger boy's hiding spot. Even a blind person can guess it's in his boot.

"What brought this on?" Elena asked looking around the room.

"Your ass-hat of a history teacher shamed me good yesterday." Jenna stated as I moved into the room to sit on Jeremy's bean-bag in the corner.

"You got 'Tannered'. Been there." I sighed.

"Done that." Elena said nodding with me.

"'Discover the impossible, Ms. Sommers.' Got it. Thanks." Jenna said sarcastically. "Like I didn't know I was screwing up."

"You're not screwing up, Aunt Jenna." Elena shook her head at the older woman.

"Yes, I am. You know why?" Jenna turned to look at the both of us. "It's because I'm not her, and I'm not your dad." She looked at each of us. "Your mom made it look so easy. You know, high school, marriage, having you and Jeremy. And your dad," She looked at me. "He made it seem like it was so easy taking care of a teenage by himself. Without your mother by his side. He made break ups look easy, and those are harder than a brick." Jenna ranted. "I can't do it. I'm going to say or do the wrong thing, and he's going to get worse, and it's going to be my fault. It's impossible."

"That's just the fear talking." I shook my head. "You're a little scared, that's all."

"We all are." Elena pointed okay.

I thought about what I just said and sighed when I thought about how I was doing the same thing with Stefan. I got up from the bean-bag. "I have to go do something. Are you both going to be okay?" I asked. They both nodded their head. Elena smiled at me, knowing exactly what I was going to go do.

"Good luck." She whispered to me as I passed her. I nodded my head before leaving the household and made my way to the boarding house.

* * *

I decided to ring the door bell this time around since last time the door opened weirdly. I waited outside until Stefan answered the door with a surprised expression.

"Hey." I said awkwardly.

"Would you like to come in?" Stefan asked stepping to the side slightly.

I shook my head. "No." I said and Stefan's expression dropped. "The comet's this way." I pointed over my shoulder and Stefan's expression improved before he followed me onto the porch more. "Sorry for barging in. I keep doing that this week. And I know it's probably bas timing considering what happened earlier." I said refurring to what I said earlier about us not being able to work.

"No, no." Stefan shook his head. "I'm glad you're here. The way we left things- I didn't like it." He stated.

"Neither did I." I sighed. "The thing is, I got home tonight and I planned out everything. I was going to write in my journal like I seem to be doing lately. Elena refurred me to it. It's been a good way to get what I'm thinking out without having to say it. Everything that happens, everything that I feel. It's all in this little book. I hide it behind this ceramic clown downstairs in the bookshelf because no one reads in the house. But then I realized something; I would be writing down everything that I should be telling you." I looked down from the sky to the male in front of me.

"What would you write?" He asked trying to understand what I was getting at.

I sighed. "I would write... '_Dear Diary, today I convinced myself it was okay to give up. Don't take risks. Stick with the status quo. Who needs to live with danger, anyways? I can get through life living in a bubble. No drama, now is just not the time. But my reasons aren't reasons, they're excuses. All I'm doing is hiding from the truth. I'm trying to tell myself things otherwise. The truth is...'" _I looked up at Stefan. "I'm scared, Stefan." I laughed humorlessly. "I'm a big baby when it comes to things that are different. I'm scared that if I let myself _be_ happy, I will break faster. The world will come crashing down and I will have no one to really hold me up this time around." I finished my rant and I felt the weight float off my shoulders.

Stefan looked down at me. "Do you want to know what I would write?" He asked.

I nodded my head.

"'_I met a girl. We talked. It was epic. But then the sun came up and reality set in.'"_ He stepped closer to my body. "Well, this is reality. Right here. Right now." He said quietly.

"Right here?" I asked quietly, softly, letting my emotions shine through my dark eyes.

"Right here." He repeated before cupping my face and leaning in to me. I looked from his green eyes to his lips before closing my eyes and meeting my lips to his cool ones. I sighed at the contact before we pulled away and looked at each other.

"Right now." I agreed before pulling him into another light kiss with a smile on my lips.

* * *

**How'd you guys like it! I think this chapter was cute! It showed a little bit of Sam and how she reacts to things. I'm thinking of making her and Damon close but not until after the whole Katherine stuff goes on. But I'm still debating it, of course. **

**Review and let me know how you liked it! I loved you guys reviews in the last chapter!  
:)**

**Love,  
Swim-**


	3. Friday Night Bites

**I'm sorry about the long wait! But I made this chapter extra long for you guys to enjoy! I hope you like it!(:**

**I don't own anything but Sam and Rena.**

* * *

**Chapter Three: Friday Night Bites  
**

"I'm not saying don't date the guy. I'm just saying take it slow." Bonnie sighed as we sat down on the bench across from each other.

"Take it slow?" I laughed humorlessly. "You were the one telling me to jump his bones." I grabbed the apple that I packed in my lunch this morning and took a bite out of it. I was running late due to the fact I was too blissful to get out of bed, so I didn't get to have breakfast.

"No, that was Caroline." Bonnie laughed. I joined in remembering that Caroline told me it was easy, and it was. I don't know why I was so nervous.

"Hey, guys." Elena smiled down at us before sitting next to me.

"Hey, 'Lena." I greeted with a smile as Bonnie nodded at her.

"What are you two talking about?" Elena asked dropping her bag onto the grass covered ground underneath the bench.

"Bonnie here is telling me to take it slow with Stefan." I nodded over to the said teenager across from me before taking another bite of my apple.

"Weren't you the one telling Sam to go for it?" Elena asked looking over at Bonnie.

She shrugged. "Now I'm saying take it slow."

Elena and I looked over at each other when Bonnie looked down before glancing back at Bonnie. "Okay, what's up with the about-face?" I asked with a sigh at the end.

"What about-face?" Bonnie asked looking up at me.

"_That_ about-face." Elena nodded to Bonnie.

"It's not an about-face." Bonnie shook her head before she sighed. "It's just that you're single for the first time in your entire high school career. It's the perfect time to play the field." Bonnie explained with a shrug.

"I've been single before, Bon." I laughed at the brunette.

"I know but we're _Juniors_. We should be single." Bonnie tried again but I shook my head.

"Bon..." I laughed with a shake of my head.

"What?" Bonnie asked looking up at me.

"I'm not the type of girl to go around and flirt with everyone." I explained and I saw Bonnie sigh a little and I leaned in closer to her. "What are you not telling me?"

"It's stupid." Bonnie said not looking up at either Elena or I.

"Come on." Elena laughed. "Just say it."

"You can tell me, Bonnie." I said quietly.

"Okay, fine." Bonnie said looking up finally. "I accidentally touched Stefan and I got a really bad feeling."

I looked over at Elena before back at Bonnie. "Is that it?"

"It was bad, bad." Bonnie tried explaining again.

"Is this the whole witch mojo thing again?" Elena asked with a slight laugh.

"You know what?" Bonnie said with a ghost of a smile. "I'm just concerned. This is me expressing concern about my best friend's new boyfriend."

"And I love you for it, trust me, I do. But I feel... good." I smiled softly, a genuine smile. "It's been a long and hard year, guys, and I'm actually starting to feel like I'm normal again. It feels like things are getting back to normal. And Stefan may or may not be a big part of that." I smiled at the two girls and they nodded.

"Alright, change of subject." Elena spoke up with a laugh. "What are we doing tonight?"

Just as I was about to open my mouth, I felt two hands slid over my shoulder and I jumped slightly before looking up to see Stefan with a grin on his face- a very smug grin. "Good morning, Sam, Bonnie, Elena." He nodded to the each of us.

"Hey, um, I gotta find Caroline. She's not answering her phone." Bonnie said gathering her things together. I watched her with slanted eyes. "So, I'll see you guys later." She nodded to us before turning around and leaving the table.

"Wait, Bonnie!" Elena grabbed her bag and sent me a wink when Stefan wasn't looking. "I'll help you! See you too later." She waved at Stefan and I before chasing after Bonnie.

I shook my head at my two best friends as Stefan took Elena's vacant seat. "They don't like me very much." Stefan stated rather than asked.

I looked at him and shook my head. "Elena thinks you're sweet." I smiled grabbed his head. "And Bonnie..." I sighed. "Bonnie's just being a good friend and looking out for me. She doesn't know you well, but when she does, I promise, she'll love you." I smiled up at his green eyes.

Stefan still didn't look convinced. I squeezed his hand and smiled. "Here's what we're going to do. Are you free tonight?" I asked already thinking of a plan.

"Yes." Stefan smiled with a nod.

"Perfect." I said getting up from the bench and grabbing my bag. Stefan followed my lead and got up from the table. "Dinner at my house. 8 o'clock. You, me, Elena, and Bonnie." I smiled as I grabbed his hand again and started heading towards the school. "You three will spend some quality tme together and they'll see what an awesome guy you truly are." Stefan laughed. "Mission accomplished."

Stefan opened his mouth to comment but stopped when he pulled me closer to him and caught something behind my back. I looked over my shoulder to see a brown football, the same football that had the initials T. L. on them. Tyler Lockwood.

I looked over at the two boys that were just throwing a ball before shocking my head at Tyler. I didn't bother saying anything to them. It wasn't worth it.

Stefan gripped the ball before throwing it back over to Matt and Tyler. I saw Tyler caught it but the force from the throw, threw Tyler back a couple steps. Matt and Tyler looked over at Stefan with shocked faces and I laughed out loud before grabbing Stefan's hand and pulling him into the school.

"That throw was insane, Stefan." I laughed when we reached the front entrance. "I didn't know that you could play."

"I use to." He shrugged. "It was a long time ago." The long on his face starting heading into a sad direction. I could see it in his bright green eyes.

"Why don't you try out for the team?" I smiled brightly at him. We pulled to a stop in front of my locker and I opened it with the combination on the top of my head.

"Yeah, I don't think so." Stefan shook his head as I closed my locker. I leaned against my locker as I looked at him.

"You don't like football then?" I asked trying to figure him out slowly.

Stefan shook his head. "No, I love football. I think it's a great spot." He sighed. "But in this case, I don't think football likes me."

I scoffed. "Oh, please." I laughed.

"You saw Tyler over there. I think we both know how he feels about me." Stefan explained further.

"Tyler's a pig." I said simply. "To him, you're mysterious loner guy that's got all the girls falling for your green eyes." Stefan shook his head with a smile. "It wouldn't hurt to be a part of something, Stefan. It could help you make some friends."

"Says the girl who spends her time alone writing in a cemetery." Stefan joked with a laugh.

"Hey, I wasn't alone." I laughed along with him. "I had Elena with me." I poked his shoulder lightly. "Besides, there's more to me than just gloomy graveyard girl. There's a whole other Sam that you have not met yet. She was into everything, very busy, very practical." I said with a feign serious tone.

"Well, I look forward to meeting her. When will that be?" Stefan said leaning closer to me with a playful grin.

"Soon." I smiled up at him. "She's tried right now." I said with a sigh and Stefan laughed before he slipped his arm around my shoulder and we headed off to history.

* * *

"World War II ended in... Anyone got anything?" Tanner paused before looking around the room and setting his eyes on Amy Juan. "Miss. Juan?" Amy shook her head letting Tanner know she didn't know the answer. He sighed before answering himself. "1945."

I turned around and looked over at Stefan that was next to me. "By the way, our team sucks." I smirked knowing that Tyler and Matt could hear. "They could use you."

"Can't." Stefan shook his head with a ghost of a smile.

"Oh, come on." I laughed quietly. "They really can use you."

"Miss. Markley?" I heard Tanner call my name and I looked up at him slowly. "Pearl Harbor?"

"Uh..." I cleared my throat while trying to find something around the room to help me out.

"December 7th, 1941." I heard Stefan answer saving my ass from Tanner. I smiled over at him thankfully and he nodded his head.

"Thank you, _Miss. Markley_." Tanner said sarcastically before turning towards the board.

"You're welcome." Stefan nodded with a small smile.

Tanner turned around and leaned against his desk. "Very well. The fall of the Berlin Wall?"

"1989." Stefan answered simply. "I'm good with dates, sir."

"Are you?" Tanner asked making Stefan nod. "How good? Keep it to the year." Tanner pushed off his desk. "Civil Rights Act?"

"1964."

"John F. Kennedy assassination?"

"1963."

"Martin Luther King?"

"'68."

"Lincoln?"

"1865."

"Roe vs. Wade?"

"1973."

"Brown vs. Board?"

"1954."

"The Battle of Gettysburg?"

"1863."

"Korean War?"

"1950 to 1953."

"Ha!" Tanner smirked down at Stefan. "It ended in '52."

"Uh, actually, sir, it was '53." Stefan corrected again.

Tanner glared down at the green eyed boy before turning to the class. "Look it up, somebody!" He ordered. "Quickly."

I searched on my phone and smirked at the information. "It was...1953." I said looking up at Tanner. I showed him my phone and he grumbled before turning to his board and writing down an assignment.

I laughed quietly and gave Stefan a high fave. This year just got a lot more interesting.

* * *

Stefan and I were walking out of the classroom when Elena caught up with us. "How did you know all of that?" She laughed with a surprised face.

"Years and years of crossword puzzles." Stefan smiled down at her. Stefan glanced down at me and I rolled my eyes at him but laughed none the less.

"Tanner was completely dumbfounded, something no one's been able to do yet." Elena commented lightly. "Good job." She nodded at both of us before heading to her locker.

"Crossword puzzles?" I laughed.

"It's a loner thing." Stefan shrugged with a light smile.

"Liar." I nudged his arm. "You're a history buff. That doesn't make you a loner." I shook my head and opened the door to our English class.

Stefan shrugged as he walked through the doorway. "You'll see." I shook my head laughing before following after him into the next class.

* * *

"Oh, my God!" I heard Bonnie laugh. I looked up from stretching my hamstrings to see Elena coming over in the cheer practice uniform.

"You came." I laughed as I got up from the ground. I wrapped my arm around her shoulders lightly in a side hug and Elena nodded.

"Yeah. I can't be a sad girl forever." She shrugged as she hugged Bonnie. "The only way to get things back to the way they were is to do things that were."

"Amen." I laughed before sitting back on the ground and stretching my arm over my head. "Oh, you're both coming to dinner tonight." I said nodding to the two girls before switching arms.

"I am?" Bonnie asked looking over at from stretching her legs.

"You are. You, me, Elena, and Stefan." I smiled over at the two girls. I saw Elena nod with a smile on her face but Bonnie's smile dropped, the same time she stopped stretching.

"You have to give him a chance, Bonnie." Elena said looking over at said girl.

Bonnie sighed as she began stretching again. "Tonight's no good." She shrugged. "Sorry, I'm missing your wonderful cooking." She said sarcastically because she knew neither Elena nor I could cook good. I shook my head at her joking. "Have you seen Caroline? I texted her like a hundred times."

"Don't change the subject." I said in a sing-song voice. "You're going to be there." I dropped my arm and looked seriously at Bonnie for a second.

Bonnie sighed. "Fine. I'll go."

"Good." I smirked before stretching my leg out in front of me and reaching for the tip of my foot. "It's going to be fun. You'll see."

"It better be." Bonnie said in a joking manner.

I looked up at the boys football team as I stretched. I saw Stefan make his way over to Tanner and I smiled. He took my invitation to join.

"What are you smiling at?" Elena asked quietly to me.

I switched legs and looked back at Elena. "Stefan's going to talk to Tanner about joining the team."

"Oh, yeah. You told me about the catch this morning." Elena nodded and lifted her arm up to stretch it. "I can't believe Tyler tried doing that." She shook her head lightly.

"I do." I sighed before putting both legs out in front of me. "It's something he would try to do just to make either I or Stefan look bad."

"True." Elena shrugged her shoulders lightly.

I heard Bonnie sigh as she looked down at her phone for the fifth time since we've been out at practice. "Seriously, where is Caroline?" She asked with a frown on her pretty face.

"I have no clue." I sighed sitting up straight.

"It's not like her." Elena said looking at the time to see that Caroline was about 10 minutes late now.

"I'll try her again." Bonnie shook her head and dialing Caroline's cell number on her phone.

A rumbling of a car engine broke us out of our bubble and we looked up to see a blue Mustang coming forward, and fast. It stopped just in front of the cheer-squad.

I got up at the same time Elena did and my jaw almost dropped at who was in the car. Caroline Forbes- the girl we've been looking for all day- with Damon Salvatore- Stefan's brother.

Caroline leans over the middle of the car and kisses Damon slowly and I raised an eyebrow at the blonde.

"Uh..." Elena said at a loss for words. I nodded my head along with her not knowing what to say about the scene in front of me.

"Oh, my God." Bonnie said getting up from the ground. "That must be the mystery guy from the Grill."

"That's the guy?" Elena said surprised as she looked at Bonnie.

"That's no mystery guy." I said over to the two girls. "That's Damon Salvatore."

"Salvatore; as in Stefan?" Bonnie asked still surprised.

"Yup." I muttered as Caroline got out of the car and started making her way over to us.

She leaned closer to me as she walked by. "I got the other brother. Hope you don't mind." She smirked before going to the front of the cheer squad. This time I did let my jaw drop open.

I saw Elena look over at Damon as he winked at her before he took off out of the parking lot. I was pretty sure we were both in shock, but for different reasons all together.

"Sorry I'm late, girls." Caroline spoke up to the group.

"Yeah, 10 minutes late." I mumbled over to Elena and Bonnie.

"I, uh, was busy." Caroline cleared her throat and I shook my head at her. "Alright, let's start with the double pike hurkey hurdler!" She ordered with a clap of her hands. "What do you say?" She started counting as we all did what was ask- except Elena and I.

Because we didn't go to cheer camp, we almost had no idea what we were doing today. Elena was able to catch up more easier than I was, but I was hot on her tails. At least, I thought I was before Caroline called me out.

"Elena, Sam, why don't you just observer today?" She smiled sweetly over to us. We both stopped before backing up into the back of the group to watch everyone else do it. "Thanks, sweeties." She smiled before going back to counting for the rest of the girls.

I shook my head and walked away from the cheer squad. I decided to watch the football players for the remainder of the practice. I wanted to check and see if Stefan got accepted for practice.

I looked around before I spotted Stefan in the number 17. I waved when he looked over and he smiled back at me before looking at the team and focusing.

I felt Elena's presence next to me watching the team as well. "He's doing good." Elena commented lightly.

"I knew he would." I bumped my shoulder into hers. She smiled at me before going back to watching the boys. I followed her lead.

"Do it again!" I heard Tyler order from the field. I watched as I leaned against the bleachers.

Both teams lined up and got set to run the play again. I saw Matt throw the ball over to Stefan- hard. Stefan jumped up and caught the ball easily but unprepared for the ground hit when Tyler tackled him. I flinched when I saw them both hit the ground.

"Whoo!" I heard Tyler shout before he patted Stefan's shoulder and walked away.

"You going to live, Salvatore?" Tanner shouted over the field.

"Yeah. I'm okay." Stefan shouted back with a thumbs up.

"Walk it off, son." Tanner ordered lightly when Matt started making his way over to Stefan still laying on the ground.

"Matt will help him out." Elena smiled at me lightly and grabbed my arm. "Come on, practice is over." She pulled me over to the showers.

I nodded my head as I watch Matt help Stefan up. "Yeah." I smiled before turning around and following Elena into the girl's locker room.

* * *

I grabbed the bags of precooked food from the Grill that I got on my way home and left them on the table before I ran upstairs and got into the shower. I didn't have time to take a shower after practice, so this was my bliss-time. I quickly finished before jumping out and getting dressed. (**Outfit on Polyvore**)

I ran back downstairs to see Elena and Bonnie getting everything set up. I smiled at the two of them before jumping in to help.

"You explain it. Last night, I'm watching Nine-O: Commercial breaks come on and I'm like, '_I bet it's that phone commercial._' And sure enough, it's that guy and the girl with the bench, he flies to Paris and he flies back. They take a picture." Bonnie explained setting the sliced bread on a long glass plate.

"Oh, come on. That commercial's on a constant loop." Elena laughed over at our best friend.

"Is she going on about that witch thing again?" I laughed from my spot on the counter. I slid the pasta onto a empty dish and cut it up.

"Yes." Elena rolled her eyes joking over at me.

"Alright, joke all you want." Bonnie shrugged us off. "How about this: Today I'm obsessed with numbers. Three numbers. I keep seeing 8, 14, and 22. How weird is that?"

"Is that what you were writing in Tanner's class today?" I looked up at Bonnie and she nodded her head.

"Maybe we should play the lottery." Elena joked lightly.

"Or Keno." I added with a laugh. "Have you talked to your Grams?"

"She's just going to say it's because I'm a witch." Bonnie sighed. "I don't want to be a witch. Do you want to be a witch?" Bonnie asked looking up at Elena and I.

"Hell no." I shook my head with a smile.

"I don't want to be a witch." Elena shook her head at Bonnie.

"You don't need to be a witch, Elena. You already have a stick up your ass." I joked lightly. I felt something hit my head and I looked down to see a piece of sliced bread of the ground.

"Thanks." She said sarcastically and turned around towards the sink, but I saw the smile on her face.

"Putting the pasta in a nice bowl isn't fooling anybody." Bonnie said looking down at what I was working on.

"Shush." I waved her off. I picked up the plate and set it on the table and turned around. "Serving spoons. Where are the serving spoons?" I asked to myself mostly as I looked around the kitchen.

"Middle drawer on your left." Bonnie said automatically not looking up from the counter.

I gave her a weird look before opening the same drawer she requested and there were the serving spoons. "Okay... So you've been in this kitchen like a thousand times." I said with a shrug like it was nothing.

"I've been in this kitchen the same amount of times you have, maybe even less." Bonnie pointed out with a raised eye brow.

Before I was able to answer her, the doorbell rang and I smiled. "That's Stefan. Please, Bonnie. Be nice. Give him a chance? If not for him, for me." I begged her lightly before heading into the living room and opening the front door to greet Stefan.

I opened the door and smiled as his bright green eyes stared down at me. "Hey." He said casually before leaning down and kissing my cheek.

"Hi." I smiled back.

* * *

I looked around the table for the tenth time and sighed when no one said anything. This dinner wasn't going the way that I wanted it to.

"Sam, this is great." Stefan commented as he spooned another mouthful of pasta into his mouth.

I heard Bonnie snort into her water. "That's because she didn't cook it."

Stefan looked over at Bonnie confused and I sighed. "I should have probably took you that when you were coming over for dinner, it wasn't going to my cooking." I laughed awkwardly over at Stefan.

"Elena's?" He asked looking at Elena. We all shook our head. "Jeremy?" Another shake.

"Try the Grill." I answered with a light glance.

"Well, the thought is there." Stefan laughed over at me.

"Did Tanner give you a hard time today?" Elena asked looking up from her plate. I smiled over at her gratefully. She was trying to be nice to Stefan, unlike Bonnie.

"Well, he let me on the team, so I must have done something right." Stefan explained with a shrug.

"I told you, you'd be fine." I laughed over at him before turning to Bonnie. "Bon, you should have seen it this morning. Tyler tried throwing the ball at Stefan but-"

"Yeah, I heard." Bonnie said not looking up from her plate. I raised my eyebrow at her snappy attitude.

"Alright." I shook my head with a sigh and looked back down at my plate full of food.

"Why don't you tell Stefan about your family?" Elena suggested lightly looking over at me to join in.

"Um, divorced. No mom. Live with my dad." Bonnie said looking with.

I rolled my eyes at her. "The witch part, Bonnie." I turned to Stefan. "Bonnie's family has a lineage of witched. It's pretty cool."

"Cool isn't the word I'd use." Bonnie shut the conversation idea down again. I glared over at her and she glared back.

"Well, it's certainly interesting." Stefan spoke up breaking Bonnie and I out of our stare down. "I'm not too versed, but I do know that there's a history of Celtic druids that migrates here in the 1800's."

"My family came by way of Salem." Bonnie corrected lightly and I relaxed seeing that her glare was gone.

"Really? Salem witches?" Stefan asked getting interested.

"Yeah." Bonnie said shyly.

"I would say that's pretty cool." Stefan said looking over at me and nodding at my word choice.

Bonnie smiled up at Stefan. "Really? Why?"

"Salem witches are heroic examples of individualism and nonconformity." Stefan explained like it was obvious and I guess when he puts it that way, it kind of was.

"Yeah, they are." Bonnie nodded finally relaxing into the conversation.

Just before anyone else could say anything, the doorbell rang again. I looked quizzing at Elena and she shrugged. We didn't invite anyone other than the two people in front of us.

"I wonder who that could be." Elena said speaking her thoughts before we both got up and went to the front door.

Elena got to the door first, so she was the one that opened it. I raised my eyebrows as I looked who was on the other side of the doorway- Caroline and Damon.

"Surprise!" Caroline said bubbly. "Bonnie said you were doing dinner, so we brought dessert." Thanks Bonnie.

"Oh." Elena and I said at the same time not really knowing what to do.

"Hope you don't mind." Damon said looking over at Elena before glancing at me.

"It's not my dinner plan." Elena shrugged before looking at me.

"Oh, um... I don't mind." I shrugged lightly. "You can-"

"What are you doing here?" Stefan asked putting his hand on top of my shoulder. I looked up at him to see him clenching his jaw tightly, obviously not happy with his brother being here. I knew that they weren't close, I've seen the way Stefan's act around Damon firsthand.

"Waiting for Elena or Sam to invite me in." Damon explained like it was obvious. At least he was being curtious.

"Oh, yeah, you can-" Elena started but Stefan interrupted.

"No, no. He can't, uh... he can't stay." Stefan shook his head before looking back to his brother. "Can you, Damon?"

"Get in here." Caroline ordered from behind Stefan. How did she get inside without my noticing?

"We're just... finishing up." Stefan tried finding a reason and I sighed before nodding to Elena.

"It's fine." I shrugged.

"Yeah, just come on in." Elena said stepping out of the way from the door. Damon smirked down at Elena before stepping over the threshold and into the house.

"You have a beautiful home, Elena, Sam." Damon turned to smile at the both of us.

"Thank you." Elena nodded at him.

I closed the door and looked up at Stefan. "Are you going to be alright with him here?" I asked lowly so that no one could hear.

Stefan sighed. "Let's just hope that he behaves." He shook his head before placing a warm kiss on top of my head.

* * *

"I _can not_ believe that Mr. Tanner let you on the team. Tyler must be seething." Caroline laughed over at me. "But good for you. Go for it." She smiled from her place on the one seater. I laughed from the couch I was on next to Stefan. Elena and Bonnie were in the love seat together, while Damon was sitting on the arm of Caroline's seat.

"That's what I always tell him. You have to engage. You can't just sit there and wait for life to come to you." Damon looked over at Stefan and I. "You have to go get it." Some reason, I don't think Damon was telling the truth, and by Stefan's glare, I could say it was the complete opposite.

"Yeah, Sam and Elena weren't so lucky today. It's only because you girls missed summer camp." Caroline explained lightly over to us like it wasn't a big deal- which it wasn't, but to her it was. "God, I don't know how you're ever going to learn the routines."

"Thanks Care." I said sarcastically before sipping my warm coffee.

"I'll work with them." Bonnie offered. "They'll get it."

"I guess we can put them in the back." Caroline thought out loud.

"You know," Damon started. "You two don't seem like the cheer leading type."

I opened my mouth up to reply but Caroline beat me to the punch. "Oh, it's just because their parents died. Yeah, I mean, they're totally just going through a _blah_ phase. They used to be way more fun. Elena use to party all the time, while Sam was always a smarty-pants and got good grades. Now, she's flunking." Caroline shrugged and I raised both eyebrows at the blonde. "And I say that with complete sensitivity."

"Nice, Caroline." I snapped before grabbing my cup and going into the kitchen. I leaned against the counter and listened to their conversation further.

"_I'm sorry, Elena. I know what it's like to lose both your parents. In fact, Stefan and I have watched almost every single person we've ever cared about die." _I heard Damon explain over to Elena and I shook my head at his words.

"_We don't need to get into that right now, Damon_." Stefan discouraged lowly.

"_Oh, you know what, you're right, Stef. I'm sorry. The last thing I wanted to do was bring _her _up._" Damon hummed lightly.

I sighed before leaving the conversation and started cleaning up around the kitchen. I decided to start with the dishes considering it was going to take the longest.

"One more." I heard Damon say from behind me. I looked over my shoulder to see him holding his empty mug.

"Thanks." I gave him a small smile as I turned around fully to grab the cup from him. Unfortunately, my hands were already wet from doing some of the dishes, so when I tried to grab a hold of the mug, it slipped through my fingers. Damon catches the cup before it could fall onto the floor and I laughed. "Whew. Nice save." I commented grabbing the cup with two hands this time and then putting it in the sink.

"I like you. You know how to laugh. And you make Stefan smile, which is something I haven't seen in a very long time." Damon commented lightly going on the other side of the opened dishwasher.

I felt myself smiling at his words, unable to hold it back. "Well, thank you." I laughed lightly while putting a dish in the long section of the dishwasher. "Earlier, did you mean Rena?" I asked softly looking up at Damon. He gave me a curious look, not understanding what conversation. "Thin walls. I heard your conversation while I wasn't in the room."

Damon nodded his head. "Yeah, I was talking about Rena."

"How did she die?" I asked quietly, not wanting to bring up any bad memories.

"In a fire." Damon asked with a far away look. "Tragic fire."

"Was it recent?" I asked again, curiosity getting the best of me.

"It seems like it was yesterday." Damon said looking bad down to me. I gave him a nod understanding where he was coming from. My dad died almost a half a year ago and it still felt like it was yesterday.

I leaned over to place another dish in the dishwasher but Damon grabbed it from my hands and slipped it in for me. I smiled in thanks before going to my next question. "What was she like?"

Damon hummed in thought before answering, "She was beautiful. A lot like you in that department. She was pretty straight-forward about everything, unlike her sister, Katherine, who was very complicated. They were both selfish and at times not very kind, but they were both very sexy and seductive."

I hummed before looking up at him. "Who dated them first?" I asked holding him another cup.

Damon smiled but it didn't reach his eyes. "Nicely deduced." He commented, tipping the cup over to me before placing it in the dishwasher. "Ask Stefan. I'm sure his answer differs from mine."

"If I would have to guess, Stefan dated Rena and you dated Katherine and they were the type of sisters to share everything, right?" I questioned shutting the dishwasher and turning it on. I looked up at him to see him with a shocked face. "I'm smarter than you think." I smiled at him before going over to the counter and starting to clean up everything.

Damon hummed in agreement. "If you were smart, you'd quit cheer leading." Damon commented as he sat down on the island chair and started folding the place mats.

"Oh, really?" I questioned with a raised eyebrow. "And why do you say that?"

"Oh, I saw you at practice. You looked miserable." Damon shook his head. "Elena, also. I'd pass on the message."

I cleared my throat. "I wasn't _miserable_." I thought about earlier how I didn't feel right doing cheer leading anymore. "I guess I felt out of place." I shrugged my shoulders lightly, stuffing the place mats in a drawer. "I used to love being a cheerleader. It was fun and something to do during the days when my dad was working, but now... I guess it doesn't have the same meaning anymore. Things are different this year. Everything that I thought mattered, really doesn't."

"So, don't let it. Quit, move on. Problem Solved." Damon smiled up at me. "Ta-da."

"You say it like it's that easy." I shook my head at him. "Besides, some things could matter again." I pointed out with a smile.

"Maybe." Damon shrugged one shoulder. "But it seems a little unrealistic to me."

"Well, thank you for your honest opinion." I bowed my head and smiled at him. I felt my smile drop a little and I leaned against the counter. "I'm sorry about Katherine and Rena..." Damon looked up at me confused. "You lost them, too."

Damon was about to reply when another voice popped up, "Hey. Need any help?" I looked behind me to see Elena and Bonnie at the doorway looking over at us. I smiled at the both of them and nodded.

"Sure, why not?" Damon asked lightly with a shrug.

* * *

_"Tonight wasn't so bad." I shook my head at Stefan with a smile. It was after dinner and we were both doing our school work. "I had fun tonight." _

_Stefan hummed, still looking down at his book. "That makes one of us." _

_I rolled my eyes at him. "Oh, come on. Damon's not as bad as you make him out to be." I shook my head at him and when he didn't look up at me, I groaned. I pushed the book out of Stefan's lap and he finally looked up at me. "Don't be a sour puss." I pout out my bottom lip and Stefan moved his eyes down to look at them before he leaned in softly._

_Or at least, it started out softly. The kiss started getting more heated and hungry. I moaned into his mouth as I pushed him back onto my white bed and straddled his wide hips. I felt Stefan's hands reach up my legs until they were on my hips and his thumb massaged my sensitive skin. _

_I leaned back quickly and helped Stefan get his shirt off, but when I looked back down at Stefan's face, it wasn't really Stefan. It was a blank face. No eyes. No mouth. No nothing. It was just staring back at me. I screamed as I fell back off the bed-_

I jumped up from my sleep and looked around the room, while holding my chest to try and help slow my heart rate. I've never had a dream like that before. It didn't make any sense_. _

I ran my hands through my long and tangled hair before slipping out of bed and grabbing my water that I kept on my dresser. I quickly took a few gulps before placing it on my bed side table and slipping back into bed.

Hoping that I wasn't going to have another freak dream.

* * *

I hopped out of the shower while it was still early in the morning. I couldn't sleep all that well with that dream popping into my head every time I tried. I shook it off this morning and decided to get ready before any one else was awake.

I took a nice long shower, the dream already forgotten and out of my mind, and did my makeup already. Now, I just needed to get dressed for the pep rally and the game. I looked down at my bed to see two different outfits. The outfit I picked out last night, and my cheer leading outfit. I sighed as I looked at the white skirt. I picked it up before slipping out of my room and heading into Elena's, knowing that she was awake.

I knocked on the door a few times and she opened it with the same emotion I felt-guilt. "I can't do this anymore." I held up the skirt to show her what I meant. She nodded her head at me.

"I know." She held up her skirt in her hand and shook her head. "It's just not there anymore."

"So, it's final." I said quietly. "We're stopping cheer leading."

Elena nodded her head back at me and sighed. "We're stopping cheer leading."

"Well, I'm going to go get dressed for the day." I sighed as I looked down at the skirt. "I need to prepare myself to tell Caroline."

I heard Elena laugh. "I bet I'll tell her first."

I raised my head to see her holding out her hand for a bet. "Your on. Loser has to do dishes for a month." I smirked knowing that I would tell Caroline when I first see her.

"Deal." Elena shook my hand and we both went back into our rooms to hurry and get ready. The quicker that we're ready, they faster we could win the bet.

I got back to my room and looked down at the outfit I wanted to wear. It was a plain plaid shirt with black skinny jeans paired off with my favorite brown boots. (**Outfit on Polyvore**) I slipped into some underwear and then my outfit before going over to my room mirror and pulling all my hair to one side and braiding it down. My hair ended just above my ribs so it was long and braided today.

I grabbed whatever I was going to need in my room and then left. I saw Elena's door still closed, that means that I was finished before she was. I smirked as I ran downstairs and into the kitchen. I grabbed a water and a granola bar and headed to the school.

* * *

I looked around the school to see if I could see anyone I knew. I really wanted to find Caroline so I could tell her that I wasn't doing cheer leading anymore, but I could find her in sight.

"Hey." I heard a low voice in my ear before they came around to my front and smile down at me; Stefan.

"Hey." I said brightly up to him with my famous smile on my face. I leaned up and kissed him lightly on the lips. "Don't you look hot in your jersey." I pulled on the jersey a little and smirked up at him.

Stefan smiled down at me with a smug glint in his eyes. "What happened? No more cheerleader?" Stefan looked down at my lack of skirt and school colors.

I sighed jokingly. "I know. I quit. I'm a quitter." I shrugged with a joking smile on my face.

"You're not a quitter." Stefan shook his head lightly at me, with a small smile. "You suffered a great loss and you're not the same person. You're looking ahead and starting over."

"Starting now." I smirked up at him and kissed him lightly again. I felt Stefan's hands wrap around my hips before he tickled my sides slightly. I giggled as I pulled away and swatted his hands away jokingly.

"Ticklish?" Stefan's eyes gained a mischief glint to them and I glared jokingly at him.

"No." I answered automatically.

Stefan hummed in mock agreement. "Oh, I wanted to give you something..." Stefan started out slowly. "And I hope you don't think it's too weird for giving you this, or too soon or something." Stefan reached into his pocket and pulled a box out before handing it to me.

I took it slowly and lifted the lift of the little box. Inside the box was a beautiful round necklace with a red jewel at the top. It was all silver with a thin chain and decorative designs on the front. I smiled brightly as I looked down at the simple jewelry before looking up at Stefan.

"It's absolutely beautiful!" I grinned at him before taking it out of the box.

"It's something I've had forever and, uh, I've never wanted to give it to anyone until now." Stefan said looking down at the necklace. I smiled up at him as he continued, "I'd very much like it if you'd wear it for me. For good luck."

I nodded. "Wanna help?" I said handing him the necklace before turning around and lifting up my braid so he could put on the necklace. I felt his slender fingers play with the lock before he set it gently on my neck. I turned around and picked up the necklace from my neck to look at it again. I got a whiff of a strong herbal and floral scent. It wasn't annoying like most herbal scents, but comforting, like home. "What kind of herb is that?" I asked looking up at Stefan.

"It's an herb my mom used to use around the house. I, uh, can't recall the name." Stefan said looking down at the necklace before back up at me. I smiled and nodded my head.

"I love it, Stefan. Thank you." I placed my hand gently over the necklace and smiled up at Stefan.

"I, uh, wanted to thank you for pushing me to try out for the team. It feels really good." Stefan said smiling before he remembered something. "Oh, and Elena." He pulled out another small box and handed it to me. "Give this to her when you see her. She helped gain up on me in Calcalus." Stefan laughed at my best friend. I shook my head and grabbed the box from him.

"Yeah, I made sure that she did." I winked at him as I put the box in my back pocket. "We're such a pair." I commented randomly. "You start football, I quit cheer leading." I laughed as I thought about it.

"Right. We're a work in progress." Stefan agreed lightly. "We'll figure it out." He promised and I smirked up at him. I leaned up and kissed him lightly on the cheek.

"Why is it that Elena told me that you both were quitting?" I heard a voice call out from behind me. I groaned as I turned around, I completely forgot about the bet from earlier, Stefan makes me forget about little things.

"Because I am." I said looking down at Caroline in her uniform.

"You both decide to quit on the worst day!" Caroline started venting. "I can't believe you two!" She shook her head before leaving Stefan and I alone again.

I laughed as I looked back at Stefan. "Well, she took that better than I thought she was going to." I commented with a shake of my head.

"That was better than you thought?" Stefan asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I thought she was going to jump me." I laughed and soon Stefan joined in with me.

* * *

"Elena!" I called out to the short brunette before catching up with her quickly.

She smiled over at me. "You own me dishes." She pointed out lightly as we fell into step with one another.

"I know." I shook my head lightly. "I got ranted at by Caroline already." I shook my head laughing before pulling out the little box that held Elena's present from Stefan. "Here, this is from Stefan. He wanted to thank you for gaining up on him and making him join the football team. He's enjoying it." I handed her the little box and she took it gently.

She opened it to see a thin bracelet with a little rose locket on it. I helped her slip it over her wrist and she smiled down at it. "It's pretty! Did you get anything?" She asked looking down at my wrists to see if I had a bracelet.

"I got a necklace that he's had forever. He said he wanted me to wear it for him for good luck." I smiled down as I picked up the necklace from my neck. Elena looked down at it and she smiled.

"That's so cute." She shook her head. "You're both so smitten with each other."

"That's so weird." I shook my head. "Damon said that Stefan was smitten with me the first time I met him." I laughed.

"That is weird." Elena agreed lightly. I wrapped my arm through hers. "Let's go watch this game, shall we?" She asked with a nod of her head.

"We shall."

* * *

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait!" I heard Tanner shout over the mic as we all crowded around the bonfire something lite up. "Let's be honest here." He started. "In the past, we used to let other teams come into our town and roll right over us!" He shouted making everyone around us 'boo' loudly. "But that is about to change!"

Everyone started yelling in agreement. The cheerleaders started shaking their pompoms around and cheering loudly. I shook my head at Elena and Bonnie and they nodded their head lightly.

"We've got some great new talent tonight starting on the offense, and I'm going to tell you right now, it has been a long time since I have seen a kid like this with hands like these!" Tanner shouted again making a couple people chuckle. "Let's give it up for Stefan Salvatore!" Tanner finished and we all cheered as Stefan stood up and waved.

I jumped up and cheered for him. He smiled over at me and then sat back down. I saw Matt and Tyler start talking at the end of the bench and I sighed. I knew Tyler wasn't going to be happy about Stefan already being star of the team.

"They have been waiting for us to put a check in the win column, and I have only one thing to say to you... Your Timblerwolves are hungry!" Tanner shouted over the cheering of the crowd.

I saw Tyler move away from everyone and over to Vicki Donovan. I kept a eye on him, he wasn't happy that means he'll do whatever comes to his head.

"And the central High Lions are what's for dinner!" Tanner finished for everyone and they started cheering louder if that was possible.

I saw in the corner of my eye, Tyler start to make his way over to a truck. When I really looked over to see what he was doing, I saw that him and Jeremy were squaring off. I elbowed Elena and nodded over to them. She gave me a questioning stare before understanding what I was talking about when Tyler and Jeremy starting fighting. I pushed passed people and held back Vicki when she tried moving closer to Tyler.

Stefan broke out of the crowd that started to form and he got closer to the fight. I would warn him about getting between one of Tyler's fights, but I knew that Stefan could handle himself.

"Hey!" Stefan shouted grabbing Tyler's shirt from the back. "He's down! Enough!"

I gripped Vicki's hand that was slowly tightening around my own when Tyler turned around on Stefan and punched him in the stomach. Stefan didn't even seem like it phased him much, but it could be the padding of his uniform.

I saw Elena move over to his brother but Jeremy picked up a broken piece of glass and starting swinging.

"Jeremy!" I shouted at him as Tyler moved out of the way. Stefan held his hand up and the sharp glass looked like it cut him deeply.

Matt grabbed Tyler and pulled him away from the whole fight, Elena went over to Jeremy to check on her brother, and I let go of Vicki when she started walking away and rushed over to Stefan to make sure that he was okay.

"Are you okay?" I place my hands on both sides of Stefan's face and looked for any injuries that would allow me to kill Tyler.

"I'm fine." Stefan smiled down at me to reassure me.

"What about your hand?" I asked looking down at his left hand that he was hiding behind his back.

"It's fine." He shook his head.

"Is it deep?" I asked softly holding my hand out for him to put it in.

Stefan sighed and placed his hand into mine. I opened up his hand but I didn't see anything. "But I thought..." I said softly looking down at his hand.

"He missed. It's not my blood." Stefan said before wiping his hand on his jeans quickly and placing his hand back into mine. The mark that had blood was gone. "See? I'm alright."

"I could have sworn he got you." I shook my head. "I'm glad you're okay, though." I said dropping the fact that there was definitely a cut on his hand. I'll leave these thoughts for late in the night.

"I'm fine." Stefan leaned down and kissed my forehead softly. "It's almost kick-off time, so I'll see you after the game, alright?"

I nodded up at him with a small smile. "Alright, good luck. I'll be wearing the necklace the whole time."

"Good." Stefan whispered before kissing my cheek. "See ya." He turned around and left the crowd of people. I sighed as I turned to look at Elena but she wasn't there anymore.

I decided to try and find Bonnie. She said earlier this week that when she touched Stefan that she got a bad vibe. I needed to know what that vibe was.

I found Bonnie around with all the other cheerleaders and I waved her over. She raised her eyebrow but came over to where I was standing. "Can I ask you a question and you give me a really serious no joke response?" I asked when Bonnie got close.

"Of course. What is it?" Bonnie asked getting worried that something happened.

"The bad mojo." I started. "When you touched Stefan and you had that reaction..."

"You know what? Forget what I said about Stefan. Your little dinner party plot totally won me over." Bonnie smiled at me.

"No, Bon, seriously. What was it?" I asked again. "Did you see something or feel something or something?"

"It wasn't clear like a picture." Bonnie sighed. "Like today, I keep seeing those same numbers I told you about... 8, 14, 22." I nodded my head for her to continue. "When I touched Stefan, it was a feeling and it vibrated through me. It was cold and..."

"And what?" I asked when Bonnie didn't finish her sentence.

Bonnie sighed as she looked up at me. "It was death. It's what I imagine death to be like."

* * *

Tanner was dead. Tanner died from an animal attack. Tanner, the teacher that I really hated more than anything in this world, died tonight due to an animal that ran out of the woods and attacked him. I just couldn't get the facts stuck in my head. There was something missing in the equation.

I felt Stefan rub my back lightly and I sighed at his touch. "I don't understand what kind of animal could be doing this." I shook my head and spoke quietly. "Why would it come out of the woods to attack someone?"

"I don't know." Stefan sighed over my head. I leaned my head back against his shoulder and closed my eyes.

"Today's been strange." I commented lightly. "I'm ready to go home and sleep the rest of it off." I sighed as I stood up straight and turned to face Stefan.

He nodded his head in agreement. "Want me to drive you home?" He asked lightly.

I shook my head. "That's fine. I took my car." I flashed him my keys and smile softly. "I'll catch up with you later, okay?" Stefan nodded and I leaned up and kissed his cheek lightly. "Goodnight, Stefan."

"Goodnight, Sam." He said softly as I walked away towards my car.

* * *

**Sorry the ending sucks bad. I didn't really know how to end it correctly. So sorry about that haha. But I hope you liked the rest of the chapter!  
**

**Review and let me know how you guys liked this chapter and how you guys are feeling towards this story! I'd love to hear from you guys!**

**Love,  
Swim-**


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